The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of his transfer to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a background of arranging to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative United States President Donald Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be permitted to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.
The conspiracy was stopped because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.