Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of the former president's transfer to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
