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Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than over two decades in prison, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This involved trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could enable a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a document approving the arrest, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring his home detention suggested the ex-president's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

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

His offspring, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a gathering of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your homeland, or watch it all from your phone there on your settee? I urge you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so followers could offer prayers for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of the former president's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is positioned 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 Donald Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also requested that he be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required ongoing care for lung conditions and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of heading a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a plan which included plans to kill his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The conspiracy was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on 8 January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to take action, restore order and return him to office.

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

He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - eight years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 presidential election.