Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defense team has asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to leave prison to undergo surgery as recommended by his doctors. The request was submitted Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Bolsonaro is being held in a room at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for his conviction in the criminal case involving a coup plot.

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His lawyers claim his health has deteriorated and are requesting that he be taken immediately to the DF Star Hospital in Brasília. His hospitalization should last five to seven days, they say.

“As stated by the doctor treating the petitioner, the former president needs surgery both to treat his hiccups – which are a side effect of previous surgeries – and because his unilateral inguinal hernia has worsened and also requires surgical intervention,” the petition reads.

They also asked Justice Moraes again to place Bolsonaro under house arrest. According to the defense, the prison environment is incompatible with the former president’s health condition.

There is no deadline for Justice Alexandre de Moraes to decide on the matter.

On Thursday (Nov. 20), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nominated Attorney General Jorge Messias to the Brazilian Supreme Court. The information was confirmed by the Planalto presidential palace.

He was nominated to replace Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, who announced his early retirement and left the Supreme Court last month. Messias is 45 years old and could remain in the position for the next 30 years, when he will turn 75, the age of mandatory retirement.

To take office, Messias must undergo a confirmation hearing before the Senate Constitution and Justice Committee and have his nomination approved both by the committee and by the full Senate. The date of the hearing has not yet been set.

Jorge Messias has headed the Attorney General’s Office since January 1, 2023, the beginning of Lula’s third term.