The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which included plans to murder the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the 2026 national vote.
