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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities concluded he posed a definite escape threat while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was convicted of orchestrating a government overthrow in last fall and given more than a 27-year term in incarceration, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the septuagenarian politician was a precautionary step after "new facts" emerged.

This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a call for a demonstration that could "allow for a possible escape.

Court Filing Details Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the detention, the magistrate said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the one-time head of state's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to guarantee victory in his escape.

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

His child, Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a assembly of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday evening.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on digital networks on last Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to fight with us."

He said the demonstration would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the return of democracy in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the judge's determination was the possibility of his transfer to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a embassy office", a statement said.

The legal document underscores that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is located around approximately 13 kilometers from Bolsonaro's home.

International Reactions

The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative American leader Trump, leading him to enact a half-rate duty on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being held in a national police facility in Brasilia and will undergo a custody hearing on the next day.

Recent Legal Requests

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under domestic detention, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be permitted to depart his residence for medical care, saying he demanded frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Background on Conviction

The former president was convicted of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Lula.

Supreme Court justices said that he knew of a scheme which included plans to kill the current president and his running partner, his vice-presidential candidate, and to detain and kill Justice Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been presiding over his judicial proceedings.

The scheme was thwarted because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. The current president was inaugurated without incident on 1 January 2023.

But a following week, on the eighth of January, many his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

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

The justices found that the protesters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to take action, bring back stability and reinstate his authority.

At the period, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the 27 years and three months sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also barred from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years later after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the trial a political persecution and said it was designed to prevent him running in the next presidential race.