Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and handed more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, causing him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, many his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.
