Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in September and given more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
