The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated 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 Donald Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
