Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
