Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The former head of state was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This involved seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the chaos caused by the protest called by his offspring.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.
The senator wrote on online platforms on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his left-wing rival, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the military leaders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The magistrates found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.
The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.
