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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The one-time leader was convicted of plotting a military coup in September and handed more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under home detention pending appeals.

High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This included seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the arrest, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.

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

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a senator, called for a gathering of his followers near the former president's residence to take place on the weekend.

The senator wrote on social media on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could "pray for his health and for the return of democracy in our country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his move to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of organizing to ask for protection through a consular facility", a announcement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to enact a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained 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 High Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of leading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to assassinate the current president 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 Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was inaugurated without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a week later, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brasília.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the protesters had been incited by him whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to take action, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.

At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.