Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and handed more than over two decades in prison, but he continued under home detention pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" came to light.
This involved attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Court Filing Details Escape Concerns
In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the disorder caused by the protest called by his child.
His child, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.
Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on the previous day: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the judge's decision was the chance of the former president's "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to request asylum through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
International Reactions
Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, prompting him to enact a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a custody hearing on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on last Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fulfill his full incarceration period under home confinement, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical care, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, President Lula.
High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to murder Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, restore order and return him to office.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the next presidential race.