Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.
