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Jair Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities determined he posed a definite escape threat while under domestic detention.

The ex-president was found guilty of orchestrating a military coup in September and given more than 27 years in jail, but he continued under confinement pending appeals.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice the presiding justice said the action to imprison the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments emerged.

This included trying to remove his electronic bracelet and a call for a supporters' gathering that could "allow for a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Escape Concerns

In a filing authorising the custody, Justice Moraes said intelligence from the facility tracking the former president's confinement suggested the former leader's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his flight.

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

His child, Flávio, who works as a senator, called for a assembly of his backers near his father's house to take place on Saturday night.

His son wrote on online platforms on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or observe everything from your smartphone there on your sofa? I invite you to struggle 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 country."

Foreign Shelter Risks

Part of the magistrate's determination was the potential of the former president's "relocation to embassies near the home, considering that the investigations revealed a history of planning to ask for protection through a diplomatic representation", a announcement said.

The court filing emphasizes that the US embassy in the national capital, Brazil's capital, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence.

Global Responses

Bolsonaro's legal woes have drawn the ire of fellow right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will experience a custody hearing on the following 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 home confinement, with digital surveillance.

They also petitioned that he be authorized to leave his home for medical care, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.

Context of Sentencing

The former president was convicted of leading a plot aimed at maintaining his control after he lost the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Supreme Court justices said that he had knowledge of a plan which involved plans to assassinate Lula and his running partner, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the Supreme Court justice who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was prevented because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the army and air force commanders. The current president was sworn in without problem on January 1st, 2023.

But a following week, on 8 January, many his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the capital, Brasília.

The security forces took action and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by Bolsonaro whose strategy, they said, was for the national armed forces to intervene, reestablish control and return him to office.

At the moment, Bolsonaro's lawyers called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe".

He was also banned from seeking elected position until 2060 - eight years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.

The former president called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was designed to prevent him running in the 2026 national vote.