Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
