Ex-Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s Health Improves, May Get House Arrest

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been moved to a standard hospital room while recovering from pneumonia. Brazil's attorney general has recommended the 71-year-old be allowed to serve his 27-year sentence for coup attempt charges at home with an ankle monitor.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been moved to a standard hospital room in Brasilia while recovering from pneumonia, according to his medical team on Monday.

The health update for the far-right former leader coincided with Brazil’s attorney general recommending he be allowed to complete his prison sentence at home rather than behind bars.

The 71-year-old politician, who led Brazil from 2019 to 2022, is currently serving a 27-year prison term for his role in orchestrating a coup attempt in 2023.

Dr. Brasil Caiado informed media in Brasilia that no release date has been set for Bolsonaro’s hospital discharge. The former president was admitted to medical care on March 13 after becoming sick while at the Papuda correctional facility in Brazil’s capital. He was placed in semi-intensive care three days after his admission.

The controversial former leader had been moved from federal police headquarters to an expanded cell in January. Bolsonaro’s relatives and supporters have consistently petitioned Brazil’s Supreme Court to permit him to complete his prison term, which began in November, from his residence.

In a ruling released Monday, Attorney General Paulo Gonet sided with Bolsonaro’s family request and recommended to Justice Alexandre de Moraes that the former president be sent home with electronic monitoring to complete his sentence.

“The clinical evolution of the former president, as shown by the medical team that took care of him in the latest incident, recommends” house imprisonment, Gonet said in his decision.

Justice de Moraes, who presided over Bolsonaro’s coup-related case, has not yet made a ruling. He typically follows Gonet’s recommendations.