Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor 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, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
