Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was determined responsible of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
