Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.
