The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
