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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in September and handed more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a safety action after "new facts" came to light.

This encompassed seeking to disable his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could enable a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a paperwork permitting the arrest, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his offspring.

His child, his son Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your smartphone there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

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

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of his "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The judicial paperwork underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the federal district, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

The former president is being kept in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

It was only on last Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he was defeated in the presidential race to his left-wing rival, President Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a plan which encompassed plans to assassinate Lula and his VP candidate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the backing of the military leaders. The current president was took office without issue on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on January 8th, numerous Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The judges found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from campaigning for office until the year 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him participating in the 2026 presidential election.