Politics

Brazil’s Bolsonaro says stay at Hungarian embassy not a crime

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mar 26 (EFE).- Former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro on Monday denied that his stay in the Hungarian embassy for two days shortly after federal police had seized his passport, was a crime.

According to The New York Times, Bolsonaro took refuge in the Hungarian Embassy in Brasilia between Feb. 12 and 14, four days after the federal police launched an operation against him and his closest circle for attempting a coup against the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

“Sleeping in the embassy, talking to the ambassador—is that a crime? Stop persecuting,” the former president told journalists in Sao Paulo as he was leaving a political promotion event for his wife, Michelle Bolsonaro.

The far-right leader did not comment further on the matter, which his lawyers had previously defended, stating that the former Brazilian president had been at the embassy as a guest and to talk about politics with authorities in that country.

Any other interpretation, such as that of him seeking asylum is imaginary, said his legal team.

The news led the Supreme Court of Justice to give Bolsonaro 48 hours to explain his stay in the embassy.

The court also asked the country’s foreign ministry to call Hungarian ambassador Miklos Halmai and seek explanations.

The police arrested several people in an operation on Feb. 8, including those from Bolsonaro’s close circle, for allegedly participating in a coup.

They also seized Bolsonaro’s passport, preventing him from leaving the country and prohibiting him from maintaining contact with people investigated for a coup attempt after the 2022 presidential elections, which Lula won.

The former president is being investigated in this case, although his legal future has become complicated after the testimonies of former army and air force commanders, Antonio Freire Gomes and Carlos Baptista Júnior, to the police.

Both admitted that they met Bolsonaro and his closest advisors several times and that they were invited to support the coup, which included intervening in the Superior Electoral Court, decreeing a state of emergency and even arresting judges. EFE

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