Supreme Court denies Bolsonaro’s passport request
Brazil’s SC denies Bolsonaro’s passport request to travel to Israel who has barred him from leaving the country amid criminal investigations.
According to official reports, Bolsonaro’s lawyers had made a petition to the top court on Thursday, informing officials that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had invited Bolsonaro to an event that was to be held between 12 to 18th May, thereby requesting the court to return the former presidents passport. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Morais turned down the petition stating, “It is absolutely premature to remove the restrictions imposed on the investigated person”.
This decision aligned with a recommendation from the prosecutor’s general office. Chief Justice Morais further stated that the former president’s passport was seized specifically in order to prevent him from leaving the country, given “the danger to the development of criminal investigations and the possible application of criminal law”.
Why is Bolsonaro requesting for passport?
Bolsonaro’s passport was seized by Federal Police back in February, after allegations of a coup to ignore the 2022 election results and overturn the elected government by force came to light, soon after he lost the elections against this rival candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The operation was carried out by Federal Police in the early hours of February 8, at Bolsonaro’s summer residence in Rio de Janeiro, finally obtaining the former Prez’s passport from his primary residence in Capitol city of Brasilia.
Request denied amid doubts of Bolsonaro’s intention of fleeing
This decision of the Supreme Court comes a few days after Bolsonaro’s spotted arrival at Hungarian embassy.
In a security camera footage published by The New York Times on Monday, Jair Bolsonaro was seen arriving at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasilia on February 12, just hours after having his passport seized by Federal Police. Official sources report that he proceeded to stay for two nights. The report was published on the very day Bolsonaro’s lawyers had submitted the petition for the former Prez’s passport return.
The security footage sparked extensive speculations about his intention of fleeing the country, seeking political asylum or other attempts of evading arrest. As by International laws, the Federal or State Police, cannot enter foreign embassies, as an embassy is considered “foreign soil”, free from the extent of local laws and jurisdiction, for the protection of their own nationals present in the host nation.
Although Bolsonaro’s lawyers advocated that the former Prez had no such intentions and attributed his stay at the Hungarian embassy as a part of his ideological strategy, given his close ties with the Hungarian president Victor Orban, who is a far-right leader like himself.
In the Supreme Court petition submitted by Bolsonaro’s Lawyers, it was stated that the proposed visit to Israel wouldn’t hamper the ongoing legal investigations currently under process, as the former Prez had many scheduled appointments planned after his return.
Although the petition did not clearly specify the event that Bolsonaro was invited to attend but the date coincides with the Independence Day of Israel. Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu & Hungary’s Victor Orban are two of the closest international allies of Bolsonaro, boasting the same far-right approach to the individual politics of their respective nations.
The Brazil Coup : Behind Bolsonaro’s legal troubles
According to court documents submitted by Brazil’s top military leaders, former President Jair Bolsonaro had proposed a plan to overturn the outcome of the 2022 presidential election, where he planned to seize power by military support, overturning the people’s verdict.
The country’s former Army and Air Force commander had given testimony about the alleged coup draft that Bolsonaro had devised using his official power and resources as President of Brazil. Both of the commanders have notified the court that they refused to be part of the coup.
Experts speculate that this isn’t the first time that Jair Bolsonaro has attempted to leave the country to avoid legal consequences, as two days prior to the end of his term in December 2022, Bolsonaro departed Brazil and left for Orlando, Florida. The date coincided with Lula de Silva’s inauguration on January 1st and also as a pointed towards Bolsonaro’s disdain and disregard for his rival.
While he vacationed abroad, on January 8, 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took to the streets, protesting on behalf of their leader, attacking government buildings and employees in a violent bid to seize power after losing the democratic elections. Although he has refuted any reports of having been associated with the incident, he still remains under investigation. In a separate verdict in June, last year Brazil’s highest electoral court barred the former Prez from contesting in presidential elections till 2030, after finding his guilty with abuse of presidential power and casting doubtful aspersions on the nations EVM’s (Electronic Voting System).
