The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were detained.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
