Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, 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 prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.
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