Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" emerged.
This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
