Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the gathering would be so backers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, 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 the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
