Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all 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 Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
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 domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.
