The health of Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro has taken a turn for the worse following intestinal surgery earlier this month, his doctors revealed. The 70-year-old remains in intensive care, where he is undergoing further tests.

But his hospital stay hasn’t shielded him from legal troubles.

On Wednesday, a court official visited Bolsonaro at his bedside to deliver a formal summons. He now has five days to present his initial defense in a high-profile case charging him with orchestrating an attempted coup after losing the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A video of the tense exchange shows Bolsonaro visibly enraged. “I have five days to present my defense?” he snapped, the disbelief evident in his voice.

The charges stem from the violent storming of government buildings in January 2023 by Bolsonaro supporters, a move investigators claim was part of a broader plot to overturn the election results. Authorities say Bolsonaro discussed the idea of a coup directly with members of the military in a last-ditch bid to stay in power.

The former president has vehemently denied the accusations, calling the case a “political witch-hunt.”

Bolsonaro’s health has been fragile ever since he was stabbed on the campaign trail in 2018, a near-fatal attack that caused massive internal bleeding and led to multiple surgeries over the years. The latest procedure aimed to address ongoing complications from that incident.

Despite doctors advising against visitors, Bolsonaro went live on YouTube from his hospital bed just a day before receiving the court summons. He appeared alongside three of his sons, prompting the Supreme Court to argue that if he was well enough to stream, he was well enough to face legal proceedings.

Bolsonaro has made no secret of his desire to run for president again in 2026. But with a current ban on holding public office, and the possibility of a 40-year prison sentence if convicted, his political future hangs in the balance.

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