Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
