Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the possibility of his transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, prompting him to implement a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.
