Sawt Falasteen - Brazil's Bolsonaro seeks to serve 27-year jail term under house arrest

Bolsonaro, 70, was in September convicted for leading a botched coup bid in which he attempted to prevent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after his 2022 election loss.

An appeal of his sentence was rejected last week, bringing him one step closer to prison.

His lawyers said they would be filing further appeals, but sought to get ahead of plans to put Bolsonaro in jail.

Sending Bolsonaro to prison "will have serious consequences and represents a risk to his life," his lawyers said in a petition to the Supreme Court.

They said Bolsonaro's "health condition is already deeply debilitated."

The lawyers note that since he was placed under house arrest in August, Bolsonaro "has already been hospitalized three times -- twice for tests and once due to a medical emergency."

They said he requires continuous treatment for pulmonary infections, esophagitis and gastritis, and has skin cancer.

In September, Bolsonaro's doctor said his skin cancer lesions had been removed and that he required no further treatment at this stage.

The former army captain's lawyers also highlighted ongoing complications linked to a stab wound to the abdomen he suffered on the campaign trail in 2018.

Bolsonaro has had to undergo several surgeries linked to the knifing, most recently to release intestinal adhesions and reconstruct the abdominal wall.

He also suffers from persistent "uncontrollable hiccups" which require daily medication and have caused shortness of breath and fainting, read the petition.

His lawyers said that Bolsonaro needs to use a CPAP machine -- which delivers air during sleep through a mask -- for severe sleep apnea.

They said Bolsonaro's medical needs were "absolutely incompatible with a common prison environment."

This "is why granting humanitarian house arrest is imperative."

The petition highlights the fact that in May, another former president, Fernando Collor de Mello, was given permission to serve his nearly nine-year sentence for corruption at home, on grounds of ill health.

- 'Mentally strong' but 'physically weak' -

The far-right firebrand was convicted and sentenced in September of leading a criminal organization that conspired to ensure his "authoritarian hold on power."

The plot involved a plan to assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes -- who led the trial against Bolsonaro.

On Tuesday, three top military officials and a policeman were sentenced to up to 24 years in jail for their roles in the assassination plot.

As prison looms, Bolsonaro's allies have expressed concern over his fate.

"He's mentally strong. His body is physically weak," popular far-right congressman Nikolas Ferreira told journalists after a visit to Bolsonaro on Friday.

"No one knows what will happen. He could go to jail. Tomorrow he could go to jail and then die. No one knows what will happen. So the uncertainty is not fair."

Bolsonaro's trial angered his ally US President Donald Trump, who described it as a "witch hunt" and imposed a punitive 40 percent tariff on some Brazilian products.

Washington also slapped sanctions on several Brazilian officials, including the powerful judge Moraes.

However, diplomatic efforts have led to a thaw in relations, and the United States announced Thursday it was lifting the additional tariffs on a variety of goods, including key exports beef and coffee.

T.Ibrahim--SF-PST