Brazil's Bolsonaro heads back to prison after medical treatment

Judicial Setback: The Brazilian Supreme Court denied Jair Bolsonaro’s request for house arrest on health grounds, ordering the 70-year-old former president to return to prison after undergoing hernia surgery.

Dynastic Successor: With his own legal eligibility barred through 2030, Bolsonaro has officially endorsed his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, as the conservative candidate to challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the October 2026 election.

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro left a hospital Thursday to return to prison and resume serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup.

In a ruling published earlier in the day judges denied a request from Bolsonaro's lawyers to grant him house arrest on health grounds.

Bolsonaro, 70, had been hospitalized for more than a week as he underwent surgery for a groin hernia and then a procedure to treat recurring bouts of hiccups.

"Contrary to what the defense alleges, there has been no worsening of Jair Messias Bolsonaro's health condition," Judge Alexandre de Moraes stated in his decision denying house arrest.

In office from 2019 to 2022, the ex-president has for years been dealing with complications from an abdominal stab wound he suffered during a 2018 campaign rally, requiring several major surgeries.

On Thursday Bolsonaro was seen leaving the DF Star Hospital in Brasilia in police custody to go back to a small room where he is serving his sentence at a federal police facility.

In September the Supreme Court found Bolsonaro guilty of conspiring to stay in power after narrowly losing 2022 elections to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Prosecutors said the plot, which included a plan to assassinate Lula, failed because of a lack of support from military top brass.

Bolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump, dismissed the trial as a "witch hunt" aimed at preventing him from running for president again in 2026.

He was under house arrest until shortly before the start of his prison term in November.

He 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.

2026 campaign heats up

Bolsonaro said his actions were the result of medication-induced paranoia.

The Supreme Court last month rejected his appeal against his conviction.

His supporters have had more success in the conservative-controlled Congress, which has passed a law that could reduce Bolsonaro's sentence to just over two years.

Lula has vowed to veto the law. However, Congress has the last word and can override him.

Bolsonaro's conviction has thrown open the race for president in October 2026 elections.

With his comeback chances looking increasingly shaky the right-winger has tapped his son Flavio Bolsonaro, a 44-year-old senator, to succeed him at the head of Brazil's conservatives.

To win election, the younger Bolsonaro may have to beat fellow conservative contenders as well as 80-year-old Lula, who has signaled he may seek a fourth term.