Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in September and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.