Sebastian Fest Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Updated Tuesday, March 26, 2024-01:49

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Jair Bolsonaro

continues to add strange chapters to the saga of allegations that brings him closer to prison: the latest, an exclusive from

The New York Times,

which revealed that the former Brazilian president spent two nights in the

Hungarian embassy in February.

"According to investigators, it is too early to say if there was an escape attempt, but it is necessary to investigate the veracity and motivation of the former president's stay in the embassy,"

Folha de Sao Paulo noted.

"The American newspaper says that cameras show that Bolsonaro was accompanied by two security guards. He apparently remained in the building from February 12 to 14," the newspaper added.

Viktor Orban,

the Hungarian Prime Minister, is a close ally of Bolsonaro, whom he last saw on December 10 in

Buenos Aires,

during the inauguration of

Javier Milei.

The political harmony between the Hungarian right-wing populist and the Brazilian conservative populist was sustained in recent years.

According to

O Globo,

the Hungarian ambassador,

Miklos Hamai,

avoided answering most of the questions posed to him by a senior official from the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

when he was summoned to the

Itamaraty Palace.

Ambassador

Maria Luisa Escorel

detailed to Hamai the former president's problems with justice and the accusations against him, while recalling that

Brazil

is a democratic country, where there is the full right to defense.

As revealed by

The New York Times

this Monday, the former president spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in

Brasilia,

four days after his passport was seized as part of the investigation in which he is accused of promoting a coup to prevent that

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

assumed power on January 1, 2023.

The

Federal Police

is investigating the reason for his stay. In a statement, Jair Bolsonaro's lawyers confirmed the two nights that the former president spent in the embassy, ​​but stated that the reason was "to maintain contact with authorities of the friendly country" and discuss "the political scenarios of the two nations."

Columnist

Vera Magalhaes

pointed out in

O Globo

that the event "could, in theory, precipitate a preventive detention of the former president, who is under several investigations for illegal behavior during his mandate."

"According to the jurists consulted, one of the reasons provided for in the law to trigger preventive detention is precisely the existence of indications that an investigated person is preparing to flee. In the case of Bolsonaro, as his passport has been confiscated, the refuge in "an embassy would serve precisely this purpose."

Magalhaes adds, however, that Judge

Alexandre de Moraes,

a member of the

Supreme Federal Court (STF)

and in charge of the investigation, would be reluctant to impose preventive detention.

Jair Bolsonaro, on March 16 in Rio de Janeiro.PABLO PORCIUNCULAAFP

De Moraes "has avoided 'burning stages' in relation to the former president, precisely to avoid giving rise to theories, spread by him, his lawyers and supporters, that Bolsonaro is the victim of some type of persecution. Thanks to this, he considers himself the adoption of more severe measures by the rapporteur of the investigations is unlikely.

Bolsonaro, who governed from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2023, although he left the country two days before the end of his mandate, is being investigated for plotting a coup d'état that would prevent Lula's inauguration, due to the events of the invasion of

the Three Powers Square

on January 8, 2023 and for keeping a piece of jewelry gifted by the government of

Saudi Arabia.

The former president is also politically disqualified until 2030. The disqualification derives from a ruling by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) in June 2023 for questioning the electronic ballot box system and insisting on the possibility of fraud during a meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited in Brasilia.

Last week, Brazilian media further revealed that Bolsonaro ordered forged Covid vaccination certificates for himself and his daughter in the final days of his term.