The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was found guilty of planning a military coup in last fall and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of his "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in Brasilia and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that the former president be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.
Context of Sentencing
The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, thousands of his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been provoked by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the next presidential race.
