Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
