Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people 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, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
