Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.
