Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable 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, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
