Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of his "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
