The former Brazilian leader has been detained after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.
The ex-president was convicted of planning a government overthrow in September and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under house arrest pending appeals.
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information were revealed.
This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could "allow for a possible escape.
Court Filing Details Flight Fears
In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said intelligence from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his getaway".
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.
His son, Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.
His son wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the vigil would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the investigations revealed a background of arranging to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, leading him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Latest Court Petitions
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with tracking devices.
They also petitioned that he be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.
Background on Conviction
He was determined responsible of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.
The conspiracy was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the national capital, the capital city.
The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.
The magistrates found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.
At the period, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the end of his sentence.
The one-time head of state called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 presidential election.
