The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, many his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
