Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.
The one-time leader was convicted of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending appeals.
Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This included seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.
The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 8 miles from his dwelling.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, prompting him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
He is being held in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on Sunday.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Lula.
Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over the former president's case.
The plot was stopped because it failed to get the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.
But a following week, on 8 January, many his backers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The judges found that the rioters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.
At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.