Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and given more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" came to light.
This encompassed trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, the judge said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his son.
His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or observe everything from your phone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork emphasizes that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.
The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the military leaders. The current president was took office without problem on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, the capital city.
The police intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.
