Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
