Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
