Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a military coup in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority 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 plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
