Brazil’s top court on Thursday refused to return the passport of right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro, who had hoped to attend next week’s inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
The court said Bolsonaro still posed a flight risk almost a year after his passport was seized as part of an investigation into his alleged orchestration of a coup attempt to remain in power after elections in 2022.
There was still the “possibility of an attempted evasion by the accused,” said judge Alexandre de Moraes, who had frequently clashed with Bolsonaro.
In a post on X, Bolsonaro said the judge’s decision “diminishes Brazil’s standing on the world stage and sends a worrying message about the state of democracy and justice in our country.”
It is “another example of the continued use of ‘lawfare’ (judicial activism) against Bolsonaro — the systematic use of the justice system to neutralize him as a political adversary in the courts, so as not to face him at the polls,” the post said.
In an interview with the New York Times, published shortly before the court ruling, Bolsonaro was effervescent about the possibility of attending the inauguration.
“I’m feeling like a kid again with Trump’s invite. I’m fired up,” Bolsonaro said, calling Trump “the most important guy in the world.”
The man who was dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics” during his time in office later told the YouTube channel of the conservative Revista Oeste website that “an appeal is still possible” against the passport ruling.
Bolsonaro said his wife would attend the inauguration, where she would get “special treatment” because of his long friendship with Trump.
“Everything he suffered there, I’ve been suffering here,” he said.
While his hero is returning to office in the United States, the 69-year-old former army captain is staring down multiple criminal charges from investigations launched after his razor-thin election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro has denied all accusations and said he is being “persecuted.”
He has been barred from holding public office until 2030 for casting doubts on Brazil’s voting system during his failed reelection campaign.
Police have also recommended he be charged with falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination records and misappropriating jewels and other luxury items gifted by Saudi Arabia, valued at $1.2 million.
The most serious allegation is that he “planned, acted, and had direct and effective control” over a plot to block Lula from taking office.
