Bolsonaro leaves hospital after surgery and returns to prison

(Patria) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was discharged from the hospital and taken to prison on Thursday after undergoing medical procedures to treat a hernia and hiccups, according to local media reports, Reuters reports.

A Reuters witness saw official vehicles leaving the DF Star hospital, where the 70-year-old had been hospitalized, early in the evening and heading towards the Federal Police Directorate in Brasilia, where he is serving a twenty-seven-year prison sentence for planning a coup d'état after his defeat in the 2022 presidential elections.

Earlier that day, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes rejected a request by Bolsonaro's lawyers for the former president to serve his sentence in "humanitarian house arrest".

According to the ruling, after receiving the necessary medical service, Bolsonaro should "return to serve his prison sentence... at the Federal Police Directorate".

Bolsonaro, who was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign event in 2018, has a history of hospitalizations and surgeries related to the attack. The former president was admitted to the hospital last week for surgical procedures, which Moraes approved at the request of the former president's lawyers.