The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and sentenced more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.
This included attempting to break his tracking device and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said information 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 made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his child.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The judicial paperwork highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned around 8 miles from his dwelling.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in the capital and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.
They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the backing of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.
The law enforcement stepped in and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.
At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also barred from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.
