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Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under house arrest.

The former head of state was found guilty of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than over two decades in incarceration, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after fresh information emerged.

This included attempting to break his tracking device and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Court Filing Details Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, the judge said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to ensure success in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the protest called by his son.

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your settee? I call on you to battle 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 land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the investigations revealed a record of planning to request asylum through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the United States embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative American leader President Trump, leading him to implement a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a national police facility in the capital and will undergo a imprisonment assessment on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to assassinate Lula 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 stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the national capital, the capital city.

The security forces stepped in and around 1,500 people were arrested.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, his attorneys called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

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

The ex-leader called the trial a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.