PGR defends humanitarian house arrest for former President Fernando Collor

The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) defended on Wednesday (30) the granting of humanitarian house arrest to former President Fernando Collor de Mello, arrested since last Friday (25) by determination of the Minister of the Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes. In a statement sent to the Court, the PGR considered that the state of health and age of the former Mandator justify the exceptional measure.

“The maintenance of the custody in house arrest is exceptional and proportional to its age group and its health, whose severity has been properly proven (…), which can be vulnerated if kept away from its home and the reach of compulsory and protectionist measures that must be effective by the State,” says the text signed by the agency.

Collor, 75, was sentenced to 8 years and 10 months in prison for crimes of passive corruption and money laundering, in a scheme involving fraudulent contracts with the BR distributor between 2010 and 2014. The conviction was confirmed by the majority of the STF plenary by 6 votes to 4.

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Since his arrest, the former president has been detained at the Men’s Penitentiary Baldomero Cavalcanti de Oliveira, in Maceió (AL). For having held the maximum position of the Republic, he was sent to an individual cell in a special wing. Collor’s defense states that he suffers from serious comorbidities such as Parkinson’s disease, bipolar disorder and sleep apnea, as well as advanced age.

However, Collor himself denied having any illness in testimony at the custody hearing, denying the version presented by his defense. While lawyers maintain that he suffers from Parkinson’s disease, bipolar disorder and sleep apnea, the former president stated that he had no health problems or making use of medicines.

Given the divergence, the rapporteur of the case, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, granted a period of 48 hours for the defense to regularize the medical documents and present reports that prove the existence of alleged comorbidities, especially those related to Parkinson’s diagnosis. According to Moraes, the documents initially attached did not include exams performed between 2019 and 2022, a period considered crucial to assess the actual health condition of the former president.

Last week, Minister Alexandre de Moraes had asked the defense to present detailed medical examinations to prove the diagnoses mentioned in the request for house arrest. The defense has sent the complementary reports and is now awaiting new analysis by the rapporteur.

The final decision will be up to the Supreme Court, which may abide or reject the PGR recommendation. If welcomed, Collor may serve the sentence under home, with monitoring and restrictions to be defined by the court.