Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
