The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the judge said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".
This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.
His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so supporters could offer prayers for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.
The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.
Worldwide Consequences
His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a detention review on Sunday.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
He was convicted of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.
High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his backers attacked and damaged public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, reestablish control and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The former president called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.
