Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.
