The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The former head of state was convicted of orchestrating a military coup in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments came to light.
This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to embassies near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 13km from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
He was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
