Jailed Ex-Brazilian President Bolsonaro Hospitalised

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has been hospitalised and placed in intensive care after developing bronchopneumonia while serving a prison sentence for plotting a coup.

The 70-year-old was admitted on Friday after experiencing “high fever, a drop in oxygen saturation, sweating and chills,” according to a statement from DF Star Hospital in Brasilia. The statement was shared on social media by his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro.

Doctors said the former leader is receiving intravenous antibiotics to treat “bilateral bacterial bronchopneumonia.”

Earlier, Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flavio Bolsonaro, said on social media platform X that his father woke up with chills and severe vomiting before being taken to hospital.

Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for his role in a failed coup attempt following his defeat in Brazil’s 2022 presidential election.

The former president has faced recurring health complications since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018.

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court of Brazil has so far rejected requests by Bolsonaro’s lawyers for him to serve his sentence under house arrest.

Speaking to reporters outside the hospital, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro criticised the decision, saying, “They are playing with my father’s life.”

“At the very least, he should be granted humanitarian house arrest,” he added.

Brazil’s next presidential election is scheduled for October, and despite his imprisonment, Bolsonaro remains a prominent figure in the country’s political landscape.

The former president has reportedly backed his son Flavio as the right-wing candidate to challenge the incumbent president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Meanwhile, Lula confirmed on Friday that he had barred a United States diplomat, Darren Beattie, from visiting Bolsonaro.

According to Brazilian authorities, Beattie had planned to meet the former president in prison on March 18.

A Brazilian diplomatic source told AFP that the adviser’s visa was revoked after authorities said he had misrepresented the purpose of his visit.

Brazil’s foreign ministry explained that Beattie had originally been granted a visa only to attend a forum on critical minerals and to hold official meetings with government officials.

Officials said a visit by a foreign public official to a jailed former president during an election year could amount to undue interference in Brazil’s internal affairs.