Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's determination was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
He is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
