The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of planning a military coup in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said data from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the potential of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, prompting him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill his opponent and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, many his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The police took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.
