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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was convicted of planning a armed takeover in last fall and given more than over two decades in jail, but he remained under confinement pending legal challenges.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments were revealed.

This involved trying to remove his tracking device and a invitation to a public vigil that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his getaway".

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

His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a senator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on the previous day: "Are you going to fight for your nation, or observe everything from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could "pray for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our nation."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's decision was the potential of his "relocation to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a statement said.

The judicial paperwork highlights that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Worldwide Consequences

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow conservative nationalist US President President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on imports of Brazilian goods.

Bolsonaro is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will have a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the Supreme Court to authorize him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he required regular treatment for lung conditions and other ailments.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the national vote to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his running partner, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was sworn in without problem on the first day of 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, the capital city.

The law enforcement intervened and around fifteen hundred individuals were arrested.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the moment, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from campaigning for office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him competing in the 2026 national vote.