Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.
The one-time leader was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This included attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.
Judicial Records Show Flight Fears
In a document approving the custody, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.
His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
The senator wrote on digital networks on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to battle with us."
He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."
Diplomatic Refuge Fears
Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.
The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.
Recent Legal Requests
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top 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 demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.
Background on Conviction
Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his political opponent, Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to kill Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was took office without problem on January 1st, 2023.
But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged official structures in the federal district, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.
The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.
The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.
