BRASÍLIA (Realist English). Lawyers for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro have petitioned Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow the 70-year-old ex-leader to serve his 27-year prison sentence under house arrest, arguing that his worsening medical condition makes incarceration life-threatening.
According to a filing reviewed by Reuters, Bolsonaro’s legal team said he suffers from chronic intestinal complications linked to the stabbing he survived during the 2018 campaign. Recent medical tests, they warned, show that “a serious or sudden illness is not a question of ‘if’, but of ‘when’.”
The request comes as Bolsonaro’s arrest appears imminent. Earlier this month, a Supreme Court panel unanimously rejected his appeal against a September conviction for plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, participating in an armed criminal organisation, and attempting to violently abolish democracy.
His defence plans a final appeal but argues that—if all legal avenues fail—the former president should be allowed to begin serving his sentence at home on humanitarian grounds. They cited precedent: earlier this year, the court allowed 76-year-old ex-president Fernando Collor de Mello to serve his corruption sentence under house arrest due to age and health concerns.
Bolsonaro’s son Carlos Bolsonaro said on Friday that his father has been suffering persistent vomiting and severe hiccups. “I’ve never seen him like this,” he wrote on X.
The former president briefly appeared in the doorway of his home on Friday while receiving a visit from federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira.
Bolsonaro is already under house arrest in a separate case alleging he sought US assistance to interfere in ongoing criminal investigations.
His lawyers told the court that placing him in a detention facility would pose “a concrete and immediate risk” to his physical integrity and even his life. The Supreme Court has yet to respond to the request.