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

The ex-president was sentenced of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than over two decades in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could enable a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His son, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his followers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your nation, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's determination was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative United States President President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that he be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plot which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the High Court judge who has been presiding over Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, thousands of his backers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, Brasília.

The security forces stepped in and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose scheme, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and return him to office.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the next presidential race.