Brazil’s Bolsonaro leaves hospital, heads home to serve rest of his 27-year sentence

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from a hospital in the capital on Friday to continue serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt at his residence in an upscale gated community.

The Supreme Court, earlier in the week, granted him the right of house imprisonment due to failing health. The measure could be revised within 90 days.

Bolsonaro left the hospital DF Star in Brasilia at around 10 am local time and headed to the Jardim Botanico neighbourhood, where he lived prior to his conviction, with his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, and his 15-year-old daughter, Laura.

The 71-year-old was hospitalised on March 13 for pneumonia, one of several health issues he has faced since he was stabbed by a man in 2018 before being elected president. He was put in intensive care for days due to kidney and inflammatory problems.

Bolsonaro governed between 2019 and 2022 and narrowly lost his reelection bid to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The former right-wing leader was accused of plotting with top aides to stay in office by decree despite the election loss, and was convicted of charges including attempted coup and attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He has denied wrongdoing and called the case a political witch hunt.

Both sides of political divide criticise decision

The former president started serving his sentence in November in a 12-square-meter room at the local federal police headquarters, which included a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV set and a desk. In January, he was transferred to a 54-square-metre room with a 10-square-metre outside area that he could access at will at the Papuda penitentiary.

Bolsonaro remains popular in Brazil, and one of his sons, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, is in a competitive position against Lula in polls ahead of October’s presidential election. The former president is ineligible and will not be allowed to take a public role in any campaign.

In his ruling, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes stressed that Bolsonaro’s transition to house arrest is conditional and that he could return to prison if he violates house imprisonment rules, regardless of his medical condition.

Bolsonaro will wear an ankle monitor and is not allowed to communicate with anyone outside his home. He is not allowed to host visitors except for doctors, family members and his lawyers. Local police will watch his house, and protesters won’t be allowed to gather near it.

Law professor Marcelo Crespo of ESPM University in Sao Paulo said it is unusual for house imprisonment rulings like Bolsonaro’s to include a review after 90 days, but he said de Moraes was seeking “some middle ground by not granting house imprisonment for an undetermined period.” As recently as November, de Moraes deemed the former president to be a flight risk.

The 90-day review has drawn criticism from both sides of the political divide. Bolsonaro’s family and allies, who consider de Moraes an adversary, have criticised the temporary nature of the house imprisonment. Detractors of the former president are also upset, saying he is receiving lenient treatment despite his long history of advocating for harsh penalties for convicts.