RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected a request by former President Jair Bolsonaro's lawyers to have his passport returned so he could travel to Israel, according to an official document released Friday.
Bolsonaro's lawyers said in a statement Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invited Bolsonaro to an event in May and asked the Supreme Court to return his passport.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote in his ruling that “it is entirely premature to lift the restrictions imposed on the subjects of the investigation,” a recommendation from the attorney general's office cited by Moraes. It was in line with.
Bolsonaro's passport was taken precisely to prevent him from leaving the country, taking into account the “danger to the development of the criminal investigation and the possible application of criminal law,” the prosecutor general said in an earlier opinion.
Federal police raided the house in February in connection with an investigation into whether Bolsonaro and his aides ignored the 2022 election results and plotted an uprising to keep the defeated leader in power. Bolsonaro's passport was confiscated. Bolsonaro lost the election to his rival and successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lawyers for Bolsonaro on Monday, the same day the New York Times published security camera footage revealing that the former president spent two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia, days after the far-right leader lost his passport. His request was submitted to the Supreme Court.
The revelation of Bolsonaro's stay sparked speculation that he was trying to evade arrest, as officials are not authorized to enter embassy premises due to diplomatic customs that restrict access. Ta.
Mr Bolsonaro's lawyers denied his intentions, saying in a separate statement that it was “illogical” to think that Mr Bolsonaro was seeking asylum or avoiding authorities. The statement said the visit was part of a political agenda with the Hungarian government, with which he had “well-known ties”.
In a petition to the Supreme Court asking for permission to travel to Israel from May 12 to 18, Bolsonaro's lawyers argued that Bolsonaro's proposed trip was canceled because he had plans after his scheduled return date. said it would not jeopardize ongoing legal proceedings.
The request did not specify which event Bolsonaro wanted to attend, but the proposed period coincided with Israel's Independence Day.
___
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america.
