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The former Brazilian leader has been taken into custody after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he remained under home detention pending court reviews.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the elderly politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said information from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to ensure success in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his offspring.

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

His son wrote on digital networks on last Friday: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his well-being and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of organizing to seek refuge through a consular facility", a declaration said.

The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is situated around 13km from his dwelling.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow right-wing populist United States President President Trump, causing him to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

He is being detained in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will experience a detention review on the next day.

Recent Judicial Appeals

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

They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical care, saying he needed regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was convicted of orchestrating a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he lost the national vote to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill the presiding judge - the top judicial official who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. His successor was sworn in without issue on January 1st, 2023.

But a week later, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed government buildings in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The magistrates found that the rioters had been incited by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and return him to office.

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.