Latest news with #Collor
01-05-2025
- Politics
Brazil judge grants former President Collor house arrest for health reasons
SAO PAULO -- A Brazilian judge ruled Thursday that former President Fernando Collor can serve his sentence from a 2023 corruption conviction under house arrest instead of prison because of his poor health. Collor had been arrested late last week and ordered to begin serving eight years and 10 months in prison. But on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes accepted a defense request for house arrest because of the former leader's advanced age of 75 and deteriorating health. Collor's lawyers said that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, severe sleep apnea and bipolar disorder. Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, had been convicted of receiving 20 million reais ($3.5 million) to facilitate contracts between a state company and a private firm for the construction of fuel depots. He remained out of prison as his lawyers continued to lodge appeals. But he was arrested April 24 in the northeastern state of Alagoas, where he lives, on a warrant that said the start of his sentence was overdue. Under the Brazilian legal system, cases concerning presidents, Cabinet ministers and members of Congress go directly to the Supreme Court. The case stemmed from the Operation Car Wash, a sweeping corruption probe that has implicated top politicians and businesspeople across Latin America — including current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was arrested in 2018 and imprisoned for nearly two years. Collor, 75, was the first Brazilian president elected by popular vote, in 1989, after a 21-year military dictatorship. He was impeached and removed from office by Congress in 1992 following corruption allegations. In 2007, he was elected as a senator representing his home state of Alagoas in northeastern Brazil.
The Hindu
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Brazil ex-president Collor to be released on house arrest
Elderly former Brazilian president Fernando Collor de Mello, who was jailed last week for corruption, will be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest for "humanitarian" reasons, a judge said Thursday. Brazil's first democratically-elected president after a decades-long dictatorship last week began serving a nine-year sentence for taking bribes while a senator between 2010 and 2014. The 75-year-old, who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, was convicted of taking 20 million reais ($3.5 million) in bribes to arrange contracts between a construction company and a former subsidiary of Brazil's state oil company Petrobras. Mr Collor was jailed in a prison in the northeastern city of Maceio, where he has a residence. His lawyers had asked that he be allowed serve his sentence at home. Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who ordered him to prison, agreed to the request, citing Collor's "serious health age and the necessity of special treatment." Mr. Collor will have to hand in his passport and wear an electronic ankle bracelet, Moraes added. Mr. Collor resigned as president in 1992, after less than three years in power, to avoid being impeached by parliament for corruption. He is not the first former Brazilian leader to fall foul of the law. Far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to stand trial over an alleged coup plot after losing elections in 2022. And left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who served two terms between 2003 and 2010, spent a year-and-a-half behind bars for bribe-taking and money laundering before having his conviction annulled and winning a third term in October 2022.
The Star
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Brazilian ex-President Collor faces house arrest for bribery charges
FILE PHOTO: Brazilian Senator Fernando Collor de Mello, a former president, speaks during a session of the Brazilian Federal Senate in Brasilia July 14, 2015. . REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The Brazilian Supreme Court has authorized former Brazilian President Fernando Collor de Mello to serve house arrest after being sentenced to almost 9 years in prison on corruption and money laundering charges, according to a court order seen by Reuters on Thursday. Collor was arrested on April 25 in the northeastern city of Maceio after the Supreme Court rejected his challenges against a previous conviction and ordered him to start serving jail time. The top court sentenced Collor, the first president to win the popular vote after the end of Brazil's last military dictatorship in 1985, to eight years and 10 months in prison in 2023 on corruption and money laundering charges. According to the order by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Collor will wear an ankle bracelet while under house arrest. The 2023 conviction came after Brazilian prosecutors accused Collor of receiving around 30 million reais ($5.28 million) in bribes from a then subsidiary of state-run oil company Petrobras. Collor took office as president in 1990, but did not finish his term as Congress decided to impeach him two years later amid a separate corruption scandal for which Supreme Court acquitted him in 1994. He was later elected as a senator representing the state of Alagoas. He left Congress in early 2023 following an unsuccessful bid for governor of Alagoas. (Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Hamilton Spectator
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Brazil judge grants former President Collor house arrest for health reasons
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian judge ruled Thursday that former President Fernando Collor can serve his sentence from a 2023 corruption conviction under house arrest instead of prison because of his poor health. Collor had been arrested late last week and ordered to begin serving eight years and 10 months in prison. But on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes accepted a defense request for house arrest because of the former leader's advanced age of 75 and deteriorating health. Collor's lawyers said that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, severe sleep apnea and bipolar disorder. Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, had been convicted of receiving 20 million reais ($3.5 million) to facilitate contracts between a state company and a private firm for the construction of fuel depots. He remained out of prison as his lawyers continued to lodge appeals. But he was arrested April 24 in the northeastern state of Alagoas, where he lives, on a warrant that said the start of his sentence was overdue. Under the Brazilian legal system, cases concerning presidents, Cabinet ministers and members of Congress go directly to the Supreme Court. The case stemmed from the Operation Car Wash , a sweeping corruption probe that has implicated top politicians and businesspeople across Latin America — including current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was arrested in 2018 and imprisoned for nearly two years. Collor, 75, was the first Brazilian president elected by popular vote, in 1989, after a 21-year military dictatorship. He was impeached and removed from office by Congress in 1992 following corruption allegations. In 2007, he was elected as a senator representing his home state of Alagoas in northeastern Brazil. ___ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Winnipeg Free Press
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Brazil judge grants former President Collor house arrest for health reasons
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian judge ruled Friday that former President Fernando Collor can serve his sentence from a 2023 corruption conviction under house arrest instead of prison because of his poor health. Collor had been arrested late last week and ordered to begin serving eight years and 10 months in prison. But on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes accepted a defense request for house arrest because of the former leader's advanced age of 75 and deteriorating health. Collor's lawyers said that he suffers from Parkinson's disease, severe sleep apnea and bipolar disorder. Collor, who led the country from 1990 to 1992, had been convicted of receiving 20 million reais ($3.5 million) to facilitate contracts between a state company and a private firm for the construction of fuel depots. He remained out of prison as his lawyers continued to lodge appeals. But he was arrested April 24 in the northeastern state of Alagoas, where he lives, on a warrant that said the start of his sentence was overdue. Under the Brazilian legal system, cases concerning presidents, Cabinet ministers and members of Congress go directly to the Supreme Court. The case stemmed from the Operation Car Wash, a sweeping corruption probe that has implicated top politicians and businesspeople across Latin America — including current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was arrested in 2018 and imprisoned for nearly two years. Collor, 75, was the first Brazilian president elected by popular vote, in 1989, after a 21-year military dictatorship. He was impeached and removed from office by Congress in 1992 following corruption allegations. In 2007, he was elected as a senator representing his home state of Alagoas in northeastern Brazil. ___ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
