Brazil’s ex-President Bolsonaro leaves house arrest for medical exams ahead of coup trial

Brazil’s ex-president Jair Bolsonaro left his home where he is under house arrest Saturday to undergo medical exams, weeks before the Supreme Court rules whether he is guilty of plotting a coup.

The right-wing politician is accused of attempting to hold power despite his 2022 electoral defeat by Brazil’s current leftist leader, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro, 70, has been under house arrest since early August for violating a judicial ban on using social networks to plead his case to the public.

A judge agreed to temporarily lift that measure so he could get medical attention for what Bolsonaro’s attorneys said were gastrointestinal problems resulting from a 2018 stabbing attack while he campaigned for president.

In particular, their request noted his chronic “reflux and hiccup symptoms” and need to go to hospital for tests, including an intestinal endoscopy.

Bolsonaro arrived on Saturday morning at a medical center in the capital Brasilia, where he briefly greeted around 20 supporters waiting for him outside with Brazilian, Israeli and US flags.

He did not address journalists who were also gathered.

Bolsonaro was permitted by the court to remain in hospital for eight hours before returning to his Brasilia residence.

Brazil’s Supreme Court will begin deciding on September 2 on the coup charges against Bolsonaro, who led Latin America’s largest country from 2019 to 2022.

He faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.

Bolsonaro has maintained his innocence and earned support from US President Donald Trump, who has called the trial a “witch hunt.”

Citing Bolsonaro’s “politically motivated persecution,” Trump has signed an executive order slapping 50 percent tariffs on many Brazilian imports.