Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
