Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
