The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a supporters' gathering that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which included plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.
