Brazil’s Bolsonaro allowed to serve 27-year sentence at home due to ill health

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro received permission Tuesday from a top Brazilian justice to serve his 27-year sentence for a coup attempt at home instead of in prison because of his failing health.

The decision by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes followed Bolsonaro’s hospitalization since March 13 for pneumonia, one of several health problems the former leader has faced since he was stabbed by a man in 2018 before he was elected president.

Bolsonaro recently was put in intensive care for a few days because of kidney problems and other issues. His doctors did not say when he would leave the hospital in Brasilia, but his overall condition has improved.

The family of the right-wing leader had been requesting that the court send him home since he was convicted in November. Bolsonaro was transferred from the local federal police headquarters to a larger cell in January.

On Monday, Brazil’s Attorney General Paulo Gonet paved the way for Bolsonaro to be put in house imprisonment instead of returning to prison.

Bolsonaro governed between 2019 and 2022. One of his sons, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, has said he will run for the presidency in October. Polls show he is in a dead heat with incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Historically, Brazil’s Supreme Court only reverses house arrest only if a detainee’s health improves dramatically or if there’s violation of the established rules, such as not making public statements, posting on social media or giving interviews to the media.