Brazil’s Bolsonaro has brain injury after falling and hitting head in prison

Former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro fell and hit his head during a “crisis” while sleeping inside his prison cell early on Tuesday, his wife said in a social media post.

“My husband is not well,” Michelle Bolsonaro said, adding that the imprisoned former leader received medical attention only when he was called for her visit.

Bolsonaro’s doctor said he suffered a mild traumatic brain injury and will undergo further tests, O Globo newspaper reported.

Bolsonaro has been behind bars at Federal Police headquarters in Brasilia since November, when he began serving a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

His legal team has previously asked that he be allowed to serve the sentence on house arrest, a request the judge overseeing the case denied.

Brazil’s Federal Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.