The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win 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 encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.
