Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
