Brazil’s Bolsonaro gets temporary house arrest for ill-health

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Vanessa BuschschlüterLatin America online editor

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Reuters

Jair Bolsonaro, who governed from January 2019 to December 2022, was jailed last year

A judge in Brazil has ruled that jailed former President Jair Bolsonaro can be placed under house arrest for the next three months because of poor health.

Bolsonaro, 71, was taken two weeks ago from his cell to a private clinic, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and treated in an intensive care unit.

He has since been discharged from intensive care but his lawyers have argued that his recurrent health problems, many of which stem from a knife attack he suffered in 2018, warrant him being granted house arrest for humanitarian reasons.

Bolsonaro, who governed from January 2019 to December 2022, was sentenced to 27 years in jail for leading a conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power.

Previous requests by his lawyers to allow him to serve his sentence in the confines of his home were rejected.

But on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes granted the request for an initial period of 90 days from the day of his discharge from hospital.

Moraes said that after that period, Bolsonaro’s situation would have to be re-assessed.

The judge, who also presided over the court case in which Bolsonaro was found guilty, also ordered that the former president wear an ankle monitor.

After he was convicted in September, Bolsonaro spent some time under house arrest while his lawyers appealed against his sentence.

But in November he was moved into a police cell after he tried to remove his ankle monitor with a soldering iron.

He later blamed the incident on “paranoia” induced by the medication he was taking.

Judge Moraes ruled at the time that Bolsonaro was a flight risk and ordered his arrest.

In Tuesday’s ruling, the judge laid down strict rules by which Bolsonaro must abide while he is serving his sentence at home.

He will not be allowed to use a phone or social media and the only visits he can receive are those by his family, lawyers and medical personnel - which will be restricted to limited periods.

Since being jailed, Jair Bolsonaro - who is banned from running for public office after being convicted - has backed his son Flávio as his preferred candidate for the presidential election in October.

The 44-year-old senator has been gaining ground in opinion polls, with one recent survey suggesting he is neck to neck with the incumbent, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, should the election go to a run-off.

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