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 sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be authorized to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
