Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of his move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
