Brazil’s Supreme Court allows Bolsonaro to be released from prison for surgery

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was allowed to be released from prison on Christmas Day to undergo surgery with approval from Brazil’s Supreme Court, court documents show.

Bolsonaro currently holds office 27 years in prison For plotting a coup after losing the last election in 2022.

Judge Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday granted Bolsonaro a temporary release from prison and a transfer to a hospital on Wednesday to undergo hernia surgery on December 25.

Bolsonaro, 70, has faced ongoing health complications Since being stabbed in the abdomen during the 2018 presidential campaign.

In April, right-wing ex-President Undergo bowel surgery. By November, Judge Moraes, who oversaw his trial, ordered Bolsonaro to be given full-time medical care.

Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former president Posted a video to On Wednesday, the headline read: “Continue to pray for the president.”

Bolsonaro was convicted in September of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The former leader was released from home detention because he was considered a flight risk and is currently serving a sentence at a federal police prison in the capital, Brasilia.

Earlier this month, tens of thousands of people gathered in major Brazilian cities protest against a bill Attempts to drastically reduce Bolsonaro’s jail time.

Lawmakers passed the bill last week after it was approved by the House of Commons. Legal experts estimate that could reduce Bolsonaro’s sentence to less than three years.

In response, Brazilian President Lula responded. Promise to veto the bill.

“With all due respect, when Congress receives this resolution, I will veto it,” Lula told reporters last week, while acknowledging that the conservative-dominated Congress would likely override his veto.

US President Donald Trump, who has previously called the investigation into Bolsonaro a “witch hunt”, welcomed the bill’s passage. America also Lift sanctions This was given to Judge Morais in July.