SAO PAULO – Jair Bolsonaro, the former President of Brazil, is undergoing surgery for a double hernia at a hospital in the nation’s capital this Thursday, as confirmed by his family.

Bolsonaro, who has been in custody since Wednesday, is currently serving a 27-year sentence following his conviction for an attempted coup. The court granted him permission to temporarily leave prison after federal police doctors verified the necessity of the surgical procedure.

Scheduled to take place in Brasilia, the surgery is anticipated to last approximately four hours, according to a statement from the medical team at DF Star hospital released on Wednesday.

The former president suffers from pain due to the double hernia. Since being stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018, Bolsonaro, who served as president from 2019 to 2022, has undergone several surgeries.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the coup trial and handed down Bolsonaro’s sentence, approved the surgical procedure. However, he rejected Bolsonaro’s appeal for house arrest upon his discharge from the hospital.

Bolsonaro remains isolated from other inmates at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia, where he is detained. His cell, measuring about 130 square feet, is equipped with a bed, private bathroom, air conditioning, television, and a desk, as per official reports.

He has free access to his doctors and lawyers, but other visitors must receive approval from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, de Moraes authorized Bolsonaro’s sons to visit him while he’s hospitalized. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is accompanying him.

Early Thursday, his eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, told reporters before the surgery that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as his political party’s presidential candidate in next year’s election. Flávio Bolsonaro announced on Dec. 5 that he will challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the candidate of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.

The senator read the letter to journalists, and his office released a reproduction of it to the media.

“He represents the continuation of the path of prosperity that I began well before becoming president, as I believe we must restore the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, resolve and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people,” Bolsonaro said in the handwritten letter, dated Dec. 25.

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

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

Bolsonaro was also convicted on charges that include leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He has denied any wrongdoing.

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