Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in September and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge 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 public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
