Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building 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 Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
