The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was found guilty of planning a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
