Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers 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 possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
The former president was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on January 8th, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
