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Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under house arrest.

The one-time leader was found guilty of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than over two decades in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending appeals.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a precautionary step after fresh information emerged.

This included attempting to break his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could facilitate a potential flight.

Judicial Records Show Escape Risks

In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said data from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's aim to disable the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His offspring, Flávio, who works as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on the weekend.

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

He said the gathering would be so followers could seek divine intervention for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's determination was the potential of the former president's transfer to embassies near the dwelling, considering that the probes revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The legal document highlights that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is situated around approximately 13 kilometers from his dwelling.

Global Responses

His judicial problems have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist American leader President Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.

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

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the his legal team asked the High Court to permit him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with electronic monitoring.

They also requested that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other ailments.

Background on Conviction

He was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to imprison and murder the presiding judge - the High Court judge who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the support of the military leaders. The current president was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised public facilities in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces took action and around fifteen hundred individuals were detained.

The judges found that the demonstrators had been incited by Bolsonaro whose plan, 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 decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from running for public office until the year 2060 - a decade minus two years after the end of his sentence.

The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.