The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
