Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was transferred in the early hours of this morning from the prison where he is serving a sentence of more than 27 years to a hospital in Brasília after presenting health problems, his son and senator Flávio Bolsonaro announced.
“I have just received the news that my father is on his way to hospital, once again. Preliminary information is that he woke up with chills and vomited considerably,” Flávio Bolsonaro wrote on social media. The transfer was confirmed by the Military Police, responsible for the prison where the former president is held, who said the medical team would provide further information.
Acabo de receber a notícia de que meu pai @jairbolsonaro está a caminho do hospital, mais uma vez…
Informações preliminares de que acordou com calafrios e vomitou bastante.
Peço orações para que não seja nada grave.
— Flávio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) March 13, 2026
Bolsonaro has faced various health problems since 2018 related to a knife attack he suffered during that year’s presidential campaign, when he was wounded in the abdomen. Since then, the former president has undergone several hospitalisations and medical procedures to treat complications arising from the assault.
This is Bolsonaro’s first departure from prison since he began serving his sentence for the attempted coup at the Papuda Penitentiary Complex on January 15. The last time he was hospitalised was while held in a special cell at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he underwent four surgeries and remained admitted between December 24, 2025 and January 1 of this year.
The latest episode came just hours after Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled the authorisation granted to a US presidential adviser to visit the former leader, following a government warning against possible foreign interference.
Bolsonaro began serving his effective sentence of 27 years and three months on November 25, 2025, following his conviction on September 11, 2025 for armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, aggravated damage through violence and serious threats, and vandalism of listed heritage.
Read more: Brazil’s Supreme Court bans Trump adviser’s visit to Bolsonaro
The former president never acknowledged his defeat in the October 2022 presidential election, cast unfounded suspicions on electronic voting machines, encouraged anti-democratic demonstrations outside military bases and, according to the judiciary, plotted to remain in power and to kill political and judicial adversaries — including Lula da Silva and judge Alexandre de Moraes. These events culminated in the January 8, 2023 attacks in Brasília, when thousands of his supporters invaded and vandalised the Supreme Court, Congress and the Palácio do Planalto in an attempted coup to oust Lula da Silva from the presidency.
