Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Jair Bolsonaro, with a judge claiming the former president was intent on escaping as he was set to begin his prison sentence for leading a coup attempt.

Police took Brazil’s convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro into custody early on Saturday after a supreme court judge said he was planning to escape from house arrest, days before the rightwinger was expected to start serving a 27-year jail sentence.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro said he tampered with his ankle monitor after a medication change caused a nervous breakdown and hallucinations.

Bolsonaro was arrested after he broke his ankle monitor. This happened right after his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, called for a vigil outside the former president’s house. The supreme court justice, Alexandre de Moraes, said Bolsonaro’s escape would have been “facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son”.

A panel of four Supreme Court judges unanimously upheld on Monday a decision to incarcerate Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The arrest came days before the former president was expected to be ordered to begin a 27-year prison sentence for staging a failed coup.