Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
