Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his move to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
