Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
