Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, gave five days to the defense of retired general and former minister Augusto Heleno to submit documents on the soldier’s health condition and his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
In the order, Moraes ordered the submission of the initial test that would have identified or recorded the symptoms of the diagnosis in 2018, as well as the medical, neurological and psychological reports, examinations and evaluations produced since that year, including medical records, progress reports, prescriptions and related documentation substantiating the allegations.
The Minister also requested documents proving the consultations and doctors who monitored the development of the disease throughout this period.
He added, “The defense must also clarify whether the accused, due to the position he held between 2019 and 2022, reported his diagnosis to the Health Department of the Presidency of the Republic, the Ministry, or any other party.”
After his arrest, the former minister in Jair Bolsonaro’s government told a medical team that he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease since 2018.
He told doctors that he “suffers from Alzheimer’s dementia that has been progressing since 2018, with recent significant memory loss, constipation and high blood pressure, and is undergoing drug treatment (polypharmacy).”
His defense requested house arrest for Heleno, citing his advanced age – 78 years – and his health condition. The PGR (Public Prosecutor’s Office) said it approved the domicile.
Alzheimer’s disease was not detected by the army’s defense throughout the period of the coup plot.
In the order, Moraes also pointed to the fact that Heleno was Secretary of the Office of Institutional Security during the period in which he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
“However, no document, examination, report, news or evidence of contemporaneous symptoms for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 has been added to the case; including the period in which the defendant served as Secretary of State in the Institutional Security Cabinet, whose structure includes the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) – responsible for information about…
Intelligence sensitive to national sovereignty – as all examinations accompanying the medical report were conducted in 2024,” Moraes wrote.