Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
