Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's move to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The court filing underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist United States President President Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his backers attacked and damaged government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.
The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.
