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The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was convicted of plotting a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he continued under house arrest pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information were revealed.

This involved attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a public vigil that could facilitate a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a document approving the custody, the magistrate said intelligence from the centre monitoring Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

This, it said, would be made easier by the disorder caused by the demonstration called by his son.

His son, Flávio, who holds office as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on Friday: Will you battle for your country, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your settee? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the gathering would be so followers could "pray for his physical condition and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's decision was the chance of his transfer to embassies near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Worldwide Consequences

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a fifty percent tax on goods coming from Brazil.

The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also petitioned that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he needed ongoing care for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a scheme aimed at keeping him in power after he lost the 2022 election to his ideological adversary, President Lula.

High Court judges said that he had knowledge of a plot which encompassed plans to assassinate the current president and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.

The scheme was prevented because it failed to get the support of the army and air force commanders. Lula was sworn in without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brazil's capital.

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

The justices found that the rioters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the period, the legal team called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also prohibited from campaigning for office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term.

The former president called the legal proceedings a targeted investigation" and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 presidential election.