Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
