Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
