Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.
