Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a military coup in September and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns
In a document approving the detention, the magistrate said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son.
His child, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or see it all from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
The former president was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.
