Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, the judge said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president 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 knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.
