Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday gave Brazil’s federal police a 24-hour deadline to explain an alleged “delay” in conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro’s return to his house arrest after he underwent a surgical procedure on Sunday, local outlets reported.
The 70-year-old former president, who was convicted and sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison on dubious “crimes against democracy” charges, visited the DF Star Hospital in Brasília on Sunday to undergo a surgical removal of skin lesions on his body as well as other medical procedures and tests.
The hospital visit marked both the first time the former president was seen in public after the STF sentenced him and the first time he left his personal residence after de Moraes ordered him placed under a strict house arrest in August, weeks before the sentence.
Bolsonaro reportedly arrived at the hospital at around 7:58 a.m. (local time) in the company of two of his sons, Brazilian Councilmen Carlos and Jair Renan Bolsonaro, and entered the operating room around 10:30 a.m. Bolsonaro’s medical team explained in a statement shared with local outlets that the surgical procedure was performed under local anesthesia and sedation and proceeded without complications, removing eight skin lesions around Bolsonaro’s torso and right upper arm.
Bolsonaro was discharged six hours later and left the hospital at 02:00 p.m. in silence, without speaking to either reporters or any of his supporters gathered outside the hospital as per the terms of de Moraes’ house arrest orders. The orders prevent Bolsonaro from legally issuing comments, speaking to the press, or using any kind of phone device or social media platform.
Dr. Cláudio Birolini, Bolsonaro’s chief medical officer, explained to reporters outside the hospital that medical tests revealed that Bolsonaro suffers from iron deficiency (anemia) and pneumonia. Birolini further explained that the anemia was aggravated by a “poor diet” over the past month and described Bolsonaro’s overall health as “fragile,” pointing to other medical conditions that Bolsonaro suffers such as high blood pressure and gastroesophageal reflux.
According to the outlet Poder 360, Bolsonaro stood silently “for 5 minutes and 4 seconds” waiting for Birolini to talk to the press and limited himself to gesturing and pointing towards the doctor. Footage published by Poder 360 shows Birolini speaking to the press while Bolsonaro stands in the back in silence next to his son Jair Renan. A bandage is seen just below Bolsonaro’s neck.
Birolini briefly spoke with Bolsonaro before police officers took the former president back to his home while pro-Bolsonaro supporters chanted messages of support and the Brazilian national anthem. CNN Brasil reported that Bolsonaro arrived at his residence in Brasília at 02:25 p.m. to resume his house arrest.
The incident appears to have angered de Moraes, who on Monday instructed the Brazilian Federal Police explain to the STF why Bolsonaro “was not immediately transported” back to his home after being discharged.
“The Federal District Criminal Police is hereby ordered to submit, within 24 (twenty-four) hours, a detailed report on the escort provided, including information on the vehicle that transported the detainee, the agents who accompanied him in his room, and the reason why he was not transported immediately after being released from medical care,” de Moraes’ court order reportedly read.
Last week, the STF convicted Bolsonaro on charges of “attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, participation in an armed criminal organization, aggravated damage, and deterioration of listed heritage sites” for his alleged involvement in a “failed coup attempt.”
According to the Brazilian top court, Bolsonaro allegedly conspired with others to stage a “coup” and overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election. De Moraes played a prominent role in censoring Bolsonaro’s campaign in that election, which concluded with radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeating a then-incumbent Bolsonaro.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the United States will “respond accordingly” to Bolsonaro’s imprisonment and “witch hunt.” In late July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order identifying Brazil as a national security threat to the United States and imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods entering the U.S. At the same time, the United States imposed sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Act in response to the Justice’s years-long censorship and persecution campaign against Bolsonaro, his supporters, and other conservative voices in Brazil.
On Sunday, President Lula published an opinion piece in the far-left New York Times claiming that President Donald Trump and his administration seek “impunity” for Bolsonaro through tariffs, sanctions, and other measures.
At press time, the STF has not determined in which Brazilian prison Bolsonaro will serve out his 27 year and three months sentence. Brazilian outlets such as Metrópoles and the left-wing Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported that, according to allies of de Moraes at the STF, the justice would “certainly” send Bolsonaro to a closed prison regime in response to new U.S. sanctions against other Brazilian authorities. Both outlets identified the Papuda Prison Complex, a reportedly overcrowded maximum-security prison, as a potential site. Papuda is widely described as a reclusion center for “politicians convicted in cases of national repercussion.”
Metrópoles reported on Tuesday morning that political allies of Bolsonaro believe that the former president would not be able to endure imprisonment in Papuda given his multiple health conditions and could end up dying if he were to serve his sentence there.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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