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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after recent developments were revealed.

This encompassed trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the arrest, Justice Moraes said data from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's "intention to break the surveillance device to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the chaos caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his followers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

The senator wrote on social media on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I invite you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of the former president's move to foreign missions near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist American leader Trump, leading him to impose a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being detained in a national police facility in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to permit him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that the former president be allowed to exit his dwelling for healthcare, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was found guilty of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the presidential race to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he was aware of a plot which involved plans to kill Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was thwarted because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. The current president was took office without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters stormed and vandalised government buildings in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The security forces stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to intervene, restore order and return him to office.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the trial a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.