The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
