Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of his move to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
