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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest.

The ex-president was sentenced of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in prison, but he remained under confinement pending appeals.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the action to imprison the elderly politician was a precautionary step after recent developments emerged.

This involved attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a possible escape.

Judicial Records Show Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

This, it said, would be assisted by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his child.

His child, Flávio Bolsonaro, who serves as a senator, called for a gathering of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your country, or observe everything from your phone there on your sofa? I call on you to fight with us."

He said the vigil would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of Bolsonaro's "relocation to embassies near the residence, considering that the inquiries revealed a record of organizing to request asylum through a embassy office", a declaration said.

The legal document emphasizes that the American diplomatic mission in the national capital, Brasilia, is situated around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have drawn the ire of fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, causing him to enact a 50% tariff on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being held in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on last Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.

They also requested that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for medical treatment, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

Bolsonaro was determined responsible of heading a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he was defeated in the national vote to his political opponent, Lula.

High Court judges said that he knew of a plan which included plans to murder his opponent and his vice-presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and to imprison and murder Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been managing his judicial proceedings.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the backing of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without incident on January 1st, 2023.

But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers invaded and destroyed public facilities in the federal district, the capital city.

The police took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been provoked by the former president whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to step in, restore order and bring him back to power.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the over 27-year sentence "absurdly excessive.

He was also prohibited from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was aimed at blocking him participating in the 2026 national vote.