Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
