Guinea-Bissau opposition leader Domingos Simoes Pereira, who was being held in prison for alleged involvement in coup attempts, has been released for medical treatment in Portugal, judicial and security sources say.

Pereira, leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), was detained when the army overthrew President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on November 26 last year and has been in and out of prison since.

The military authorities accuse Pereira of involvement in an attempted October 2025 coup, which he is alleged to have helped finance, in addition to separate financial crimes and involvement in a 2023 coup attempt.

Both of the alleged coup attempts occurred under Embalo, before his November ousting.

Pereira’s lawyers and his party denounce the accusations against him as arbitrary and say they are part of a politically motivated campaign aimed at barring him from the presidential race scheduled for December 6.

An assessment by a military hospital in Bissau determined that Pereira has a condition that “could not be properly treated in Guinea-Bissau. He must therefore go to Portugal for treatment”, according to a judicial document shared with AFP on Thursday.

Pereira had “requested release on health grounds”, it said.

Another judicial source told AFP that the release was for “legal humanitarian reasons” and that there was “no reason to keep him in detention any longer” given confirmation by military doctors that he was ill.

Upon arrival at the Lisbon airport, Pereira was greeted by dozens of supporters and told journalists that he “absolutely” intended to return to Guinea-Bissau, according to local media.

“I am Guinean and will continue this fight as soon as possible,” he said.

Guinea-Bissau has seen five coups d’etat and several attempted overthrows since its independence in 1974.

The west African nation’s crippling poverty and political chaos have also made it a fertile ground for corruption and drug smuggling.