Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
