Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was moved to a regular hospital room in Brasilia as he recovered from pneumonia, a doctor said Monday, adding to a fast-moving sequence of custody and legal steps tied to his health and ongoing prison sentence.
The improvement was reported by Dr. Brasil Caiado, who told reporters in Brasilia that there was no set date for Bolsonaro’s discharge. Bolsonaro had been hospitalized on March 13 after feeling ill at the Papuda penitentiary in Brazil’s capital, according to the report, and he later entered semi-intensive care.
Bolsonaro, 71, is serving a 27-year prison term tied to a coup attempt in 2023. His medical transfer came hours after Brazil’s attorney general issued a decision that would allow him to serve his sentence under house imprisonment rather than returning to jail.
In the attorney general’s published decision, Paulo Gonet said his recommendation for house imprisonment was supported by the “clinical evolution” shown by the medical team that treated Bolsonaro during the latest incident. Gonet also suggested that Justice Alexandre de Moraes send the former president home with an ankle monitor to serve his sentence.
De Moraes, who has overseen the case involving Bolsonaro’s alleged role in the 2023 coup attempt, had not yet ruled as of Monday. The report said that de Moraes often agrees with Gonet’s suggestions, but the timing and outcome of this decision remained pending.
The hospital move also follows earlier custody steps described in the report. Bolsonaro had been transferred in January from a federal police headquarters to a larger cell, and his family and allies have repeatedly asked Brazil’s Supreme Court to permit him to carry out his sentence under house arrest.
As part of that sentence timeline, Bolsonaro began serving time in November, and the latest legal and medical developments have kept attention on how the courts will balance his health needs with the restrictions tied to his punishment.