Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.
