Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to murder the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.
