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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the surveillance device to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be "facilitated by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His offspring, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a meeting of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.

The senator wrote on social media on Friday: "Are you going to fight for your homeland, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could offer prayers for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's transfer to embassies near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, prompting him to implement a 50% tariff on imports of Brazilian goods.

He is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brasilia and will experience a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he needed regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of leading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which included plans to assassinate Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been presiding over the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was took office without problem on 1 January 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

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

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to take action, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also barred from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him participating in the 2026 national vote.