Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
