Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.
