Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
