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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could enable a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the detention, the judge said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or see it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of the former president's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is positioned around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on Sunday.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to authorize him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that he be allowed to leave his home for medical care, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Justice Moraes - the top judicial official who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The conspiracy was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, thousands of his backers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The one-time head of state called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.