The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
