Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the chance of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. His successor was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
