The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist US President President Trump, prompting him to enact a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous his followers attacked and damaged government buildings in the capital, the capital city.
The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
