The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending court reviews.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been managing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.
