Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
