The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
