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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The former head of state was found guilty of planning a government overthrow in last fall and given more than 27 years in incarceration, but he continued under house arrest pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Justice Moraes said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his ankle monitor and a invitation to a demonstration that could facilitate a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the unit overseeing Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his getaway".

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

His son, Flávio Bolsonaro, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his supporters near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or see it all from your phone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the gathering would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Embassy Asylum Concerns

Part of the judge's ruling was the potential of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

The former president's legal troubles have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President Trump, leading him to implement a 50% tariff on Brazilian product imports.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on the following day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to fulfill his full incarceration period under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical care, saying he needed frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

He was determined responsible of orchestrating a scheme aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the national vote to his ideological adversary, Lula.

Top judicial officials said that he had knowledge of a scheme which included plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute the presiding judge - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the support of the army and air force commanders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters attacked and damaged public facilities in the capital, Brazil's capital.

The police took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

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

At the time, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the court case a targeted investigation" and said it was aimed at blocking him competing in the 2026 national vote.