Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
