A report by the American newspaper 'The New York Times' revealed that the former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro spent two nights inside the Hungarian embassy, shortly after Justice decided to confiscate his passport, in the middle of a judicial process for his alleged participation in an attempted coup after the 2022 elections. Bolsonaro's legal team claims it was a friendly visit, not an attempt to seek political asylum.
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Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, involved in a new scandal. The American newspaper The New York Times confirmedthrough images from the security cameras of the Hungarian representation in Brasilia, that the former president was inside the facilities from February 12 to 14, days after Justice confiscated his passport.
According to the newspaper, Bolsonaro arrived at the embassy four days after the Federal Police launched an operation against him and his closest circle for allegedly attempting a coup against the Government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The former far-right president faces charges of attempted coup, after testimonies from high-ranking officials of the Police and the Army reinforced the hypothesis that he was forging a plot to annul the electoral results that gave the current Brazilian head of state, Luiz, as the winner. Inácio Lula da Silva.
If found guilty, Bolsonaro could not be criminally prosecuted if he is sheltered in a foreign embassy. Two of the former president's closest associates have already been arrested by local authorities.
The former ruler was previously accused of evading justice, when he left the country for the United States just days after Lula da Silva's inauguration.
“These images only reinforce that Bolsonaro is a confessed fugitive, but what the courts and the Federal Police do with these images (published by the New York Times) is not my place to say,” said Alexandre Padilha, minister of Institutional Relations, in an appearance with the local media from the Brazilian capital.
A visit to “maintain contacts with officials of a friendly country”
In response to allegations of possible escape intentions by the former president, his lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, defended his client, mentioning that Bolsonaro's stay at the embassy was originated after an “invitation” by Hungarian staff, all with the objective to “maintain contacts with officials of the friendly country” and “receive updated information on the political panorama of both nations.”
“Any other interpretation that goes beyond the information provided here constitutes an obvious work of fiction, unrelated to the reality of the facts and is, in practice, one more fake news,” said Wajngarten, who heads Bolsonaro's legal team. , through their social networks.
Read alsoMega operation launched against Bolsonaro and his close circle for coup attempt in Brazil
The relationship between Jair Bolsonaro and Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, could be another motivation for this unexpected “visit.”
Both politicians with far-right tendencies, Bolsonaro and Orban have maintained a close “friendship” since the time they both headed, at the same time, the leadership of their respective nations. Bolsonaro even referred to Orban as “his brother” during a state visit to Hungary in 2022.
One day it is in the water in Angra dos Reis.
No other, he is trying to disappear numa embaixada….
It's a total badass.
We no longer know how to contain the meltdown of the Government and attack the President @jairbolsonaro pic.twitter.com/1Bqh9WaG20— Fabio Wajngarten (@fabiowoficial) March 25, 2024
“As is well known, the former president maintains a good relationship with the Hungarian Prime Minister (Viktor Orban), with whom he recently met at the inauguration of the Argentine president, Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires,” expressed the authors of the report.
Brasilia calls the Hungarian ambassador to ask for explanations
After learning of the situation, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry summoned the highest diplomatic representative of the European country on Brazilian soil, Miklós Halmai, to clarify the reasons why Bolsonaro spent more than 24 hours inside the embassy facilities.
Halmai was received in the office of the secretary of Europe and North America, Maria Luísa Escorel, according to the Foreign Ministry, which did not reveal details about the content of the talks.
The former president has been involved in a cyclone of legal scandals since he left the Presidency in 2022. In addition to accusations of a coup attempt, Bolsonaro was politically disqualified until 2030 by a Brazilian court, which charged him with having spread electoral disinformation during the process that saw him fall defeated before Lula.
In addition to the above, the Federal Police accused him on March 19 of having falsified his COVID-19 vaccination certificates, which could be considered a criminal offense, under Brazilian legislation.
With AP, EFE and Reuters
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