A federal judge ordered the release of former Brazil President Michel Temer, who was arrested earlier in March on corruption allegations, Valor Econômico reported.

Judge Antonio Ivan Athié also ordered the release of Wellington Moreira Franco, who served as minister during Temer's term, and five others.

Responding to the appeals filed by Temer and Moreira, Athié said the arrest warrants issued by the federal police were "unnecessary." The judge added that the arrests were based on "old facts, possibly illicit, but [there was] no evidence of criminal reiteration after 2016, or any other factor that warrants preventive custody."

Temer and nine others were arrested March 21 as part of an investigation of alleged corruption in the building of the Angra nuclear power plant complex.

Temer was hit with several corruption accusations over the duration of his three-year term, which ended in 2018. The former president is just one of numerous Brazilian politicians and businesspeople convicted or charged as part of the so-called Operation Lava Jato, or Car Wash, investigation, which sparked widespread outrage that has transformed the country's political dynamics.

Aside from Temer, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was also jailed on corruption charges.