Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.
The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after fresh information emerged.
This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Judicial Records Show Escape Risks
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our nation."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the possibility of his "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he demanded ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate his opponent and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed public facilities in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.
The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from campaigning for office until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.
