Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in September and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" were revealed.
This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight 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 nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of organizing to request asylum through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.
International Reactions
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to leave his home for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a plan which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.
The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.
But a week later, on the eighth of January, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.
The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, reestablish control and bring him back to power.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.
