Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
The former president was determined responsible of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
