Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
