Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro could be sent back to his prison cell on New Year’s Day following surgery, his doctors have confirmed.
BRASÍLIA: Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro could be back behind bars as soon as New Year’s Day following surgery for a groin hernia.
Surgeon Claudio Birolini told reporters at the private DF Star clinic that Bolsonaro should be discharged on January 1 barring any complications.
Bolsonaro would then be returned to the cell where he is serving a 27-year prison sentence for leading a failed coup plot.
The 70-year-old underwent surgery on Christmas Day, followed two days later by a procedure to treat recurring hiccups.
He has for years dealt with complications from an abdominal stab wound suffered during a 2018 campaign rally, requiring several major surgeries.
In September, Brazil’s Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of conspiring to stay in power after losing the 2022 election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
He had been under house arrest until shortly before the start of his jail term.
Bolsonaro was detained and sent to prison after he took a soldering iron to his ankle monitoring bracelet in what the court saw as an escape attempt.
The former president claims to be the victim of political persecution.
