Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in September and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
