The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.
This included seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to murder his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 national vote.
