Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
