In hospital, Bolsonaro turns 71 amid pressure for house arrest

Imprisoned since January to serve a 27-year sentence for participating in the coup plot, former president Jair Bolsonaro turns 71 this Saturday (21). He remains hospitalized at DF Star Hospital, where he was taken on the 13th after feeling unwell in the cell where he is being held, at the 19th Military Police Battalion, in Brasília.

Through social media, relatives paid tribute to the former president. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) recorded a video at his father’s house and edited it with images of his family childhood and passages from the clan’s political trajectory.

“I always miss the time when we were together on a daily basis, talking, laughing and talking about everything a little. Today, these conversations are more limited, but I have faith that this difficult time will pass”, wrote the pre-candidate for Planalto.

In a similar tone and with images from his childhood and his father’s Presidency, Carlos Bolsonaro (PL) recalled what it was like to grow up alongside Jair Bolsonaro and said that he always did everything “to help the old man achieve his goals”.

“I continue on this mission today”, highlighted the pre-candidate for the Senate for Santa Catarina.

Appeals for house arrest

Relatives and allies are pressing for the granting of house arrest for the former president, due to his health condition. Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), opened a deadline this Friday for a statement from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) after receiving the medical report.

On Wednesday, the former president’s defense had requested the granting of humanitarian house arrest, citing Bolsonaro’s clinical condition. In response to the request, Moraes ordered the hospital to send, within 48 hours, the complete medical record, including exams performed, medications administered and assessment of general health conditions.

Upon receipt of the documents, the minister decided to listen to the PGR before analyzing the defense request. It will be up to the body to comment on the eventual granting of home care, in light of the medical information presented.

Bolsonaro is serving his sentence in an initial closed regime, after conviction in a criminal case judged by the STF. The analysis of the request for house arrest takes place amidst assessments within the Court of the legal and political impacts of a possible change in the sentencing regime.

As GLOBO showed, a group of STF ministers assesses that the possible granting of house arrest to the former president could function as a form of institutional protection for the Court itself, given the worsening of his health condition and the possible political consequences of the case. Members of the government and the PT have also considered, with reservations, that the clinical worsening indicates that the time has come for the former president to return to serve his sentence at home.