The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept 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 Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
