The former Brazilian president detained after being declared a risk of fleeing

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

The former head of state was convicted of planning a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in prison, but he was staying under home detention pending legal challenges.

High Court Judge Justice Moraes said the decision to arrest the elderly politician was a preventative measure after fresh information came to light.

This encompassed seeking to disable his electronic bracelet and a summons to a demonstration that could facilitate a chance to flee".

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a paperwork permitting the detention, the judge said information from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's aim to disable the tracking monitor to secure accomplishment in his escape.

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

His child, his son Flávio, who holds office as a legislator, called for a meeting of his supporters near his father's house to take place on the weekend.

His son wrote on social media on Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your nation, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of the magistrate's determination was the chance of his "relocation to foreign missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a background of planning to ask for protection through a consular facility", a statement said.

The court filing highlights that the US embassy in the federal district, Brasilia, is situated around 8 miles from the former president's residence.

International Reactions

His judicial problems have generated frustration from fellow right-wing populist United States President Trump, leading him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports.

The former president is being detained in a Federal Police station in the capital and will experience a detention review on Sunday.

Recent Legal Requests

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

They also requested that he be allowed to exit his dwelling for medical treatment, saying he required frequent medical attention for lung conditions and other illnesses.

Context of Sentencing

He was convicted of heading a plot aimed at keeping him in power after he failed to win the presidential race to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he was aware of a scheme which included plans to kill the current president and his VP candidate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been managing Bolsonaro's trial.

The conspiracy was prevented because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. His successor was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, numerous his followers stormed and vandalised official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital.

The law enforcement intervened and around 1,500 people were taken into custody.

The justices found that the protesters had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, restore order and reinstate his authority.

At the period, the legal team called the decades-long sentence extremely harsh.

He was also banned from seeking elected position until the year 2060 - eight years later 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 next presidential race.