The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.
