Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative United States President Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, his attorneys 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 end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.
