Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was transferred to a prison unit with expanded space and medical access after a Supreme Court justice approved improved conditions but again denied humanitarian house arrest.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was transferred Thursday to a different detention facility in Brasília offering larger and more isolated accommodations, following an order from Alexandre de Moraes, a justice of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF).
In authorizing the move, de Moraes emphasized that the improved conditions do not alter Bolsonaro’s sentence, stating that despite the changes, “it’s not summer camp,” according to a ruling highlighted by Poder 360.
Bolsonaro, 70, is serving a 27-year, three-month prison sentence imposed last year for his alleged role in what authorities described as a failed coup attempt following the 2022 presidential election, which he narrowly lost to current president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.
Since November, Bolsonaro had been held at the Regional Superintendency of the Federal Police in Brasília, where he formally began serving his sentence. During that period, de Moraes repeatedly rejected requests for humanitarian house arrest, despite Bolsonaro’s reported health issues and the fact that he recently underwent four surgical procedures within a single week.
On Thursday, de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro’s transfer to a cell inside Papudinha (“Little Papuda”), a unit located within the larger Papuda Prison Complex in the Brazilian capital. According to Agência Brasil, the decision followed public statements by Bolsonaro’s sons claiming that the previous facility failed to meet “minimum standards of dignity.” In the written ruling, de Moraes said the new conditions “do not transform” the sentence nor convert it into a “hotel stay” or “summer camp.”
Details of the transfer were further outlined by CNN Brasil, which reported that Bolsonaro’s prior holding area measured approximately 12 square meters. The new cell reportedly spans about 65 square meters, including roughly 10 square meters of outdoor space, and is described as “exclusive and completely isolated” from other inmates.
CNN Brasil also reported that the new accommodations allow for several concessions, including a color television, air conditioning and expanded medical access. These include authorization for physical therapy and the ability to undergo hospital visits or hospitalizations without requiring prior court approval.
According to Poder 360, which said it reviewed the court order, de Moraes wrote that there has been a “systematic attempt to delegitimize” Bolsonaro’s sentence. The justice argued that Bolsonaro is “serving his sentence under more favorable conditions than most prisoners in closed prisons in the country, due to exceptional circumstances recognized by the STF.” The outlet also published a short video showing what the cell “will look like.”
In the same ruling, de Moraes again denied Bolsonaro’s request for humanitarian house arrest but authorized “weekly religious assistance and the former president’s participation in a sentence reduction program through reading.”
The transfer comes one week after President Lula vetoed legislation that would have sharply reduced Bolsonaro’s sentence to roughly two years. Lula had previously announced in December that he intended to block the measure.
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