Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after recent developments came to light.
This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the protest called by his son.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the judge's decision was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
He is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The scheme was stopped because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The judges found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him participating in the next presidential race.
