The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in the ninth month and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His son, Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of his transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the national capital, Brasília.
The police intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
