The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a government overthrow in September and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist American leader Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to kill his opponent and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been provoked by him whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
Maya Chen is a freelance writer and urban enthusiast with a passion for documenting city life and cultural shifts.
