Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
