Brazil's far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro could be back behind bars as soon as New Year's day after undergoing surgery for a groin hernia, doctors said Monday.
Barring complications, Bolsonaro should be discharged on January 1, surgeon Claudio Birolini told reporters at the private DF Star clinic in Brasilia.
Bolsonaro would then be returned to the cell where he is serving a 27-year prison sentence for leading a failed coup plot.
Bolsonaro, 70, had surgery on Christmas Day, followed two days later by a procedure to treat recurring hiccups.
In office from 2019 to 2022, he has for years been dealing with complications from an abdominal stab wound he 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 2022 elections to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro had been under house arrest until shortly before the start of his jail term, but 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.
Bolsonaro claims to be the victim of political persecution.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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