The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys 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 former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 presidential election.
