Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was recently detained after months under house arrest while appealing his 27-year sentence for plotting a coup in Brazil, as his lawyers claimed the incident was due to health issues and medication side effects. This development has raised questions about the legal proceedings and the health of the former president, who is now facing the consequences of his alleged actions.
Bolsonaro was earlier placed into custody after months of house arrest, with the Supreme Court set to vote Monday on whether to uphold his pre-emptive detention. The former president had been under house arrest since September, when he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election. His legal team is currently appealing the verdict, and the Supreme Court is set to vote on whether to uphold his pre-emptive detention.
The ex-president suffers from concomitant illnesses that require treatment and takes various medications, including those affecting the central nervous system, which have known side effects. His lawyers reportedly specified that the interaction of the medicines currently taken by the former president are known for side effects, including altered mental status with possible mental confusion, disorientation, impaired coordination, sedation, impaired balance, hallucinations, and cognitive impairment. The attorneys requested the court to review the latest ruling to transfer him from house arrest to custody.
Bolsonaro’s case stems from an alleged coup plot that began in 2021 with efforts to erode public trust in Brazil’s electoral system. After his 2022 defeat, prosecutors claimed his supporters were urged to mobilize in Brasilia, where they stormed and vandalized the nation’s three branches of government on January 8, 2023. The former president has denied any wrongdoing and continues to challenge the charges.
US President Donald Trump called the prosecution politically motivated, imposing steep 50% tariffs on Brazil, but Washington has since rolled back some of the levies. The US has also sanctioned Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who ruled the verdict, for human rights violations and has announced visa restrictions against him and other court officials. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Luba da Silva has condemned what he called Washington’s pressure tactics, accusing the US of having ‘helped stage a coup’ and vowing that Brazil ‘will not forget it.’