🔗 Share this article The former Brazilian president taken into custody after being deemed a flight risk Jair Bolsonaro has been taken into custody after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under house arrest. The former head of state was convicted of plotting a armed takeover in the ninth month and given more than a 27-year term in jail, but he was staying under home detention pending court reviews. High Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes said the decision to arrest the 70-year-old politician was a preventative measure after "new facts" emerged. This encompassed attempting to break his electronic bracelet and a invitation to a public vigil that could "allow for a potential flight. Court Filing Details Flight Fears In a filing authorising the custody, the judge said intelligence from the centre monitoring the former president's confinement suggested the ex-president's "intention to break the electronic ankle bracelet to secure accomplishment in his getaway". This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his child. His son, Flávio, who serves as a legislator, called for a gathering of his followers near his father's house to take place on the weekend. His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your phone there on your sofa? I urge you to fight with us." He said the vigil would be so supporters could seek divine intervention for his well-being and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land." Foreign Shelter Risks Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the possibility of Bolsonaro's transfer to foreign missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a history of organizing to ask for protection through a embassy office", a announcement said. The court filing underscores that the United States embassy in the national capital, the capital city, is situated around 13km from the former president's residence. Worldwide Consequences Bolsonaro's legal woes have provoked anger from fellow populist conservative US President Trump, causing him to enact a fifty percent tax on Brazilian product imports. Bolsonaro is being kept in a federal law enforcement building in Brasilia and will have a imprisonment assessment on Sunday. Recent Judicial Appeals It was only on Friday that the ex-leader's attorneys asked the High Court to allow him to complete his entire prison term under domestic detention, with digital surveillance. They also requested that he be allowed to leave his home for healthcare, saying he demanded regular treatment for respiratory ailments and other ailments. Background on Conviction He was convicted of orchestrating a conspiracy aimed at maintaining his control after he failed to win the 2022 election to his political opponent, President Lula. Top judicial officials said that he knew of a scheme which involved plans to murder Lula and his VP candidate, 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 stopped because it failed to get the endorsement of the armed forces officials. Lula was inaugurated without incident on the first day of 2023. But a seven days after, on the eighth of January, numerous Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the federal district, Brazil's capital. The security forces intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested. The justices found that the demonstrators had been encouraged by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the country's army to step in, bring back stability and return him to office. At the moment, his attorneys called the decades-long sentence unreasonably severe". He was also banned from running for public office until 2060 - eight years after the completion of his term. The ex-leader called the legal proceedings a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 national vote.