Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of his move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
