Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a precautionary step after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the return of democracy in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. Lula was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.
