Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of the former president's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned 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 presidential election.
