The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will have a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
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 domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
