Brazil’s Supreme Court has approved a temporary release for former president Jair Bolsonaro to undergo surgery on Christmas Day while serving a 27-year prison sentence for allegedly plotting a coup after the 2022 election.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorised Bolsonaro’s transfer from a federal police jail in Brasília to hospital for a hernia operation, citing ongoing health complications linked to a 2018 stabbing and subsequent intestinal surgeries.
The 70-year-old former leader has been under full-time medical supervision since November.
His son Flávio Bolsonaro urged supporters to keep praying as the procedure approached.
The decision comes amid rising political tension, with mass protests backing legislation that could dramatically reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence.
Although the bill passed parliament last week, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has pledged to veto it, setting the stage for a potential confrontation with Brazil’s conservative-dominated Congress.
