Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - 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 intended to stop him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
