Bolsonaro will undergo surgery for two inguinal hernias at Christmas

Rio de Janeiro (EFE).- The Supreme Court of Brazil authorized this Tuesday that the former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for sedition, be transferred to a hospital on Wednesday and undergo surgery the next day, on Christmas Day, to correct two inguinal hernias.

The authorization was granted, at the request of the lawyers of the far-right leader, by magistrate Alexander de Moraes, the investigating judge in the Supreme Court case in which the former president was convicted. In his ruling, the magistrate determined that, during his transfer to the DF Star hospital in Brasilia on December 24, Bolsonaro must be under the "discreet" custody of Federal Police agents. He also demanded that this institution contact the hospital management beforehand to define the hospitalization conditions.

Security measures in Brazil for Bolsonaro's hospitalization

"The Federal Police will have to offer complete surveillance and security of the person under custody during their stay, as well as of the hospital, and maintain on-call teams," assures De Moraes in his sentence. To do this, the institution will have to guarantee 24-hour security and surveillance with at least two agents at the door of Bolsonaro's room in the hospital and other teams inside and outside the medical center. Moraes prohibited the entry to the room of the far-right leader of computers, mobile phones or any electronic equipment. He also authorized the presence of the former president's wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, as an attendant during the period she remains in the hospital, and said that any other visit will have to be previously authorized by the court. The lawyers had requested that two of the former president's sons, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and Rio de Janeiro councilman Carlos Bolsonaro, also be considered as companions during the hospitalization. The operation had already been authorized by the Supreme Court last Friday after a report from Federal Police doctors confirmed that the far-right leader needs to correct two inguinal hernias, but its date had not yet been defined.

The Legal and Medical Situation

Bolsonaro had been under house arrest since last August, but the Supreme Court ordered his imprisonment on November 22nd in a special cell at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia, after he tried to burn the electronic ankle bracelet with which his movements were monitored. The former president (2019-2022) canceled this Tuesday what would be the first interview he would give since he has been imprisoned, alleging health reasons.

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Bolsonaro, aged 70, was convicted by the Supreme Court for having led a plot to try to prevent the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated him in the 2022 presidential elections.

The former head of state, barred from running for elections until 2060, awaits the sanction of a law approved last week by Congress and which benefits him with a significant reduction of his sentence, but Lula has already announced that he will veto it. Bolsonaro has been suffering from several health problems for months, including vomiting, dizziness, and hiccups, disorders derived from the stab wound inflicted by a mentally ill person during the 2018 election campaign.