Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
