Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, leading him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
