The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of the former president's transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Donald Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which involved plans to kill the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 presidential election.
