Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.
