Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. His successor was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
