Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, the judge said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted 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 following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
