Bolsonaro lawyers seek house arrest for coup plot sentence

Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro stands at the entrance of his home while he is under house arrest in Brasilia, Brazil, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Nova, File)

SAO PAULO - Lawyers for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to serve his coup plot sentence under house arrest, according to a document seen by Reuters on Friday.

In the request, the lawyers cited Bolsonaro’s health problems. The former president has had recurring intestinal issues since he was stabbed while campaigning in 2018, including several surgeries, the last one a 12-hour procedure in April.

“It is certain that keeping the petitioner in a prison environment would pose a concrete and immediate risk to his physical integrity and even his life,” the document said, asking for house arrest on “humanitarian grounds.”

Bolsonaro was sentenced in September to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The former right-wing leader has already been under house arrest for violating precautionary measures in a separate case, in which he allegedly courted U.S. interference to halt criminal proceedings against him.