Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
