Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the arrest, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His offspring, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the vigil would be so backers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his move to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a history of arranging to request asylum through a consular facility", a statement said.
The court filing emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the following day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plot which included plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it didn't receive the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
