Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
