The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of his transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
