Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a potential flight.
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the custody, the magistrate said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a declaration said.
The court filing emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow conservative nationalist US President Donald Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which encompassed plans to murder his opponent and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was inaugurated without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement took action and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.
