Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
