Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
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 Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
