The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
