A Brazilian Supreme Court judge on Thursday rejected the request for the return of the passport of former head of state Jair Bolsonaro, who requested it to attend the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Monday in Washington. The former far-right leader (2019-2022) was banned from leaving Brazilian territory in February 2024.
His passport was confiscated following a police operation as part of an investigation into an alleged plan to “coup d’état” to prevent the return to power of his left-wing rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in January 2023. His lawyers had requested the return of this passport, arguing that Jair Bolsonaro had received an official invitation to the inauguration of Donald Trump.
But Alexandre de Moraes, judge of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), ruled this request inadmissible, justifying, among other things, his decision by the risk of “leak” of the ex-president abroad to escape justice in his country. According to this powerful magistrate, hated by the Bolsonaro camp, the invitation to the inauguration of the American president does not “does not justify revocation” of the ban on leaving the territory.
Ineligible until 2030
He also argued that Jair Bolsonaro publicly defended “fleeing the country and seeking asylum abroad” of individuals convicted for their involvement in the riots of January 8, 2023 in Brasilia. That day, a week after Lula's inauguration, thousands of Bolsonaristas invaded and ransacked the buildings of the presidential palace, the Parliament and the Supreme Court.
-Defeated by Lula in the second round of the 2022 presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro was subsequently declared ineligible until 2030, for having disseminated unfounded information about the Brazilian electoral system. The prosecution must decide soon whether it will initiate proceedings against the former president, for his alleged involvement in a supposed plan to “coup d’état” in order to remain in power after the 2022 election.
Jair Bolsonaro has always flatly denied these accusations, shouting at “persecution”. In an interview published Thursday by the New York Times, before the publication of Judge Moraes' decision, he did not hide his enthusiasm at the idea of going to Donald Trump's inauguration, “the most important guy in the world”. “I feel like a kid, I’m all excited, I don’t even take Viagra anymore”he said.
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