President Jair Bolsonaro had blamed the attack during the campaign on a plot to stop him from winning the presidency. A judge has ruled the attacker is delusional and should be sent to a mental institution.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Bolsonaro
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A man charged with stabbing President Jair Bolsonaro at a campaign event last year is mentally ill and should not be punished with a prison sentence, a judge ruled on Monday.
Adelio Bispo de Oliveira severely injured the far-right presidential candidate at a September rally in Juiz de For, in Minas Gerais state.
Federal judge Bruno Savino ruled that based on psychiatric evaluations and expert opinions de Oliveira suffers from persistent delusional disorder and should be sent to a mental institution.
Bolsonaro suffered serious injuries to the abdomen that forced him to undergo surgery three times, the last this year to remove the colostomy bag that he used until the reconstruction of his intestinal tract was completed.
At the time of the attack, the former army captain was already leading in the polls on an anti-crime and anti-corruption agenda.
The injury forced him to spend the final stretch of the campaign in the hospital and miss debates. He was released from hospital only a week before the October 7 election.
Some analysts have suggested that the attention due to the stabbing and Bolsonaro's absence from debates boosted his popularity rather than hurting his campaign.
Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes
Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was elected to Brazil's highest office on a wave of controversial statements ranging from homophobic to misogynist. DW looks at some of his most eyebrow-raising remarks.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/E. Peres
'Straight to the dictatorship'
Bolsonaro has criticized the very democracy that won him the presidency. In a 1999 TV interview, he said he would shut down Congress if he ever became president. "There is no doubt: I would perform a coup on the same day. And I'm sure that at least 90 percent of the population would celebrate and applaud because [Congress] doesn't work," Bolsonaro said. "Let's go straight to the dictatorship."
Image: picture-alliance/AP/L. Correra
'Rape'
Four years ago, Bolsonaro engaged in a heated debate with Brazilian lawmaker Maria do Rosario. During the debate, he said: "I wouldn't rape you because you don't deserve it." Shortly after, he defended himself, saying he wasn't a rapist. However, he added that if he were a rapist, he wouldn't touch do Rosario because she is "ugly."
Image: Agencia Brasil/M. Camargo
'Moment of weakness'
In a speech at Rio de Janeiro's Hebraica Club in April 2017, Bolsonaro spoke about his family. "I have five children. Four are men, and then in a moment of weakness the fifth came out a girl," he said.
Image: Getty Images/AP/L. Correa
'Prefer my son to die'
LGBT activists have long railed against Bolsonaro for his homophobic stance. But in a 2011 Playboy magazine interview, Bolsonaro made things personal, saying he "would be incapable of loving a homosexual son … I would prefer my son to die in an accident than show up with a mustachioed man." In May 2002, he said that if he saw "two men kissing each other on the street" he would "beat them up."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Schincariol
'No means to control their offspring'
Bolsonaro has often belittled impoverished communities. But in 2008, he took things a step further by suggesting poor people should be prevented from bearing children. Birth control "methods have to be provided for those who, unfortunately, are ignorant and have no means to control their offspring because we [as the upper middle class] are able to control ours."
