Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia 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 Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.
