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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The former head of state was convicted of planning a government overthrow in the ninth month and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, the judge said information from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his escape.

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

His son, Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, 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: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I invite you to fight 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."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of arranging to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

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

Global Responses

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being detained in a national police facility in the capital 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 allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill Lula and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was sworn in without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

At the time, the legal team called the decades-long sentence "absurdly excessive.

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

The former president called the court case a political persecution and said it was aimed at blocking him running in the next presidential race.