Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo 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 permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plot which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the next presidential race.
