Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters 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 decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
He was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
