Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
