Janot opposes house arrest for Genoino.

Brazil's Attorney General, Rodrigo Janot, has submitted an opinion to the Supreme Federal Court opposing a request for permanent house arrest for former congressman José Genoino. In the document, Janot expresses his opposition to the defense's request to serve the entire sentence at home. "It should be noted, however, that any maintenance of this exceptional measure should only occur until the full stabilization of his clinical condition is achieved, as highlighted in the medical report on which the convicted individual relies, and there is no question of a definitive character in granting the desired regime," he stated.

February 19, 2014, 22:15 PMUpdated July 11, 2018, 12:54 pm

Brazil's Attorney General, Rodrigo Janot, has submitted an opinion to the Supreme Federal Court opposing a request for permanent house arrest for former congressman José Genoino. In the document, Janot expresses his opposition to the defense's request to serve the entire sentence at home. "It should be noted, however, that any maintenance of this exceptional measure should only occur until the full stabilization of his clinical condition is achieved, as highlighted in the medical report on which the convicted individual relies, and there is no definitive basis for granting the desired regime," he stated (Photo: Leonardo Attuch).

André Richter - Reporter for Agência Brasil

Brazil's Attorney General, Rodrigo Janot, today (19) sent to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) an opinion against the definitive house arrest of former deputy José Genoino (PT), sentenced to four years and eight months in prison in Criminal Action 470, the mensalão trial. According to Janot, the house arrest that Genoino is currently serving should be maintained until his state of health stabilizes.

In the opinion sent to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Janot states that the former congressman should undergo a new medical examination to assess his health condition. The prosecutor requests that the medical board clarify whether Genoino can serve his sentence in conventional prison.

In the document, Janot expresses his opposition to the defense's request to serve the entire sentence at home. "It should be noted, however, that any maintenance of this exceptional measure should only occur until the full stabilization of his clinical condition is achieved, as highlighted in the medical report on which the sentenced individual relies, and there is no basis for a definitive character in granting the desired regime," he stated.

On Monday, Genoino's defense requested that the Supreme Court grant him definitive house arrest. According to his lawyer, Luiz Fernando Pacheco, he suffers from severe heart disease and is unable to serve his sentence in prison because he is an "elderly patient who suffered an aortic dissection."

According to him, the prison system is not equipped to offer adequate medical treatment to the former parliamentarian. "Any other solution means unnecessarily exposing the patient to a high risk of death, considering the possibility of blood clots, hypertensive spikes, or hemorrhagic or cardiological events," the lawyer stated.

Genoino's arrest was ordered in November of last year, and he was taken to the Papuda Penitentiary in the Federal District. However, by order of Minister Joaquim Barbosa, he was granted the right to serve temporary house arrest for 90 days. During his time in Papuda, the former congressman fell ill and was taken to a private hospital.

In a letter sent to the president of the Supreme Federal Court in December, to inform him of the conditions of local prisons, Judge Bruno André Silva Ribeiro, of the Criminal Enforcement Court of the Federal District, stated that the Papuda Penitentiary has the conditions to offer medical treatment to Genoino and that he should return to prison.

According to the judge, 306 inmates with hypertension, 16 with heart disease, 10 with cancer, 56 with diabetes, 65 with HIV, 14 with hepatitis, 41 with hepatitis C, 18 with tuberculosis, and 289 with asthma are serving sentences in prisons in the Federal District.