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Bolsonaro has been detained after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under home confinement.

The one-time leader was found guilty of plotting a military coup in September and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he was staying under confinement pending legal challenges.

Top Judicial Official Alexandre de Moraes said the move to detain the 70-year-old politician was a safety action after recent developments were revealed.

This included trying to remove his tracking device and a summons to a public vigil that could facilitate a possible escape.

Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears

In a filing authorising the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his flight.

This, it said, would be assisted by the disorder caused by the gathering called by his child.

His child, his son Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a meeting of his backers near the former president's residence to take place on Saturday night.

Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media on Friday: Will you battle for your homeland, or see it all from your mobile device there on your couch? I call on you to struggle with us."

He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his physical condition and for the restoration of democratic rule in our country."

Diplomatic Refuge Fears

Part of Justice Moraes's decision was the possibility of Bolsonaro's move to diplomatic missions near the home, considering that the probes revealed a record of arranging to seek refuge through a diplomatic representation", a declaration said.

The court filing underscores that the American diplomatic mission in the capital, Brazil's capital, is positioned around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.

Global Responses

The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Donald Trump, causing him to implement a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.

He is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brazil's capital city and will have a detention review on the next day.

Latest Court Petitions

It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with tracking devices.

They also asked that Bolsonaro be allowed to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for pulmonary infections and other health problems.

Details of Guilty Verdict

Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he failed to win the presidential race to his ideological adversary, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

High Court judges said that he knew of a scheme which encompassed plans to murder Lula and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing the former president's case.

The scheme was thwarted because it didn't receive the backing of the army and air force commanders. Lula was took office without issue on the first day of 2023.

But a following week, on January 8th, thousands of his followers stormed and vandalised government buildings in the capital, Brasília.

The law enforcement stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.

The magistrates found that the demonstrators had been incited by him whose strategy, they said, was for the Brazilian military to intervene, bring back stability and bring him back to power.

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

He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years later after the end of his sentence.

The former president called the legal proceedings a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him competing in the 2026 national vote.