A Brazilian judge allows ex-President Bolsonaro to leave prison for a hernia surgery

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been serving a 27-year prison sentence for an attempted coup since November, was granted permission on Friday to leave prison for a hernia surgery. The date of the surgery has not been announced.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes gave the far-right leader the go-ahead after federal police doctors confirmed he needs the procedure.

Doctors say Bolsonaro’s hernia affects both of his groins and causes him pain. The former Brazilian president, in power between 2019 and 2022, has gone through several other surgeries since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018.

De Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and sentenced him to prison, denied the former president’s request for house arrest after he leaves the hospital.

Bolsonaro does not have any contact with the few other inmates at the federal police headquarters in the capital of Brasilia, where he is held and where his 12-square-meter room has a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV set and a desk, according to authorities. He has free access to his doctors and lawyers, but other visitors have to get their access approved by the Supreme Court.

The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat.

The plot included plans to kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes. There was also a plan to encourage an insurrection in early 2023.

The former president was also convicted on charges that include leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.

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