Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters 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 country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
