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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The former head of state was sentenced of plotting a military coup in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.

This involved seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's aim to disable the surveillance device to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to battle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our land."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the chance of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

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

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that Bolsonaro be authorized to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing the former president's case.

The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the national capital, Brasília.

The security forces intervened and around 1,500 people were detained.

The judges found that the protesters had been provoked by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the next presidential race.