The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
