Brazil justice bars Flavio Bolsonaro from leaving after election loss
Brazil Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Senator Flavio Bolsonaro to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving the country after his election loss.
The story in focus
Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes barred Senator Flavio Bolsonaro from leaving the country and ordered him to surrender all passports within 24 hours, hours after his presidential election loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The ruling cites a money-laundering investigation and orders no contact with lawyer Willer Tomaz.
- Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the travel ban and passport order against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Monday.
- The ruling references a federal police investigation into Bolsonaro's possible involvement in a money-laundering scheme.
- Bolsonaro must surrender all passports, including his congressional diplomatic passport, within 24 hours.
- The order also prohibits contact with lawyer Willer Tomaz, linked to betting companies suspected of laundering about £680 million.
- Bolsonaro, defeated by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday's runoff, said he would comply and denied planning to flee.
Court order follows election defeat
Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes barred Senator Flavio Bolsonaro from leaving the country and ordered him to hand over all passports, including his congressional diplomatic passport, within 24 hours. The ruling was issued on Monday, a day after Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The brief ruling refers only to a criminal case in which federal police are investigating Bolsonaro over possible involvement in a money-laundering scheme. It also orders him to have no contact with lawyer Willer Tomaz, a friend linked to betting companies that police suspect were used to launder about £680 million.
Senator cites police action, denies flight plan
Bolsonaro publicly disclosed the order in a social media video before Brazilian media reported the judge's decision. He said federal police served him on the street after he visited his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest in Brasília. The senator said he intended to comply with the request and denied planning to flee the country after the election.
Bolsonaro said the decision was based on an interview his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, gave last Friday urging him to leave Brazil if he lost. Eduardo Bolsonaro is in self-imposed exile in the United States. The senator said he never made such a statement himself.
Election result contested
Bolsonaro has not conceded defeat to Lula. He had announced plans to seek to annul the election, claiming that a two-hour extension of voting harmed the result, though his own campaign had also argued for an extension. Folha de S.Paulo reported that allies and lawyers persuaded him to drop the annulment bid as legally weak.
In the same video, Bolsonaro said he would file another case seeking to disqualify Lula's ticket over alleged abuse of economic power. His Senate term ends early next year, when he will lose the special jurisdiction afforded to officeholders. He is also under investigation in a separate criminal case over £20 million he was recorded asking a disgraced banker to provide for a biopic about his father.
Why did Brazil's Supreme Court order Flavio Bolsonaro to surrender his passports?
Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order in connection with a federal police investigation into Bolsonaro's possible involvement in a money-laundering scheme. The ruling also barred contact with lawyer Willer Tomaz, whose linked betting companies are suspected of laundering about £680 million.
Sources & further reading
- Brazil: defeated Flávio Bolsonaro ordered to surrender passports ↗The Guardian
- Flavio Bolsonaro says Brazil federal police asked for his passports ↗The Straits Times
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