Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates 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 reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.
