Brazil police file court documents accusing Bolsonaro of planning to flee to Argentina to seek asylum
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Brazilian police accuse ex-President Bolsonaro of planning to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Police in Brazil say messages found on former President Jair Bolsonaro’s telephone showed that he wanted to flee to Argentina and request political asylum from President Javier Milei.
Police in Brazil say messages found on former President Jair Bolsonaro’s telephone showed that he wanted to flee to Argentina and request political asylum from President Javier Milei.
Police on Wednesday formally accused Bolsonaro and one of his sons of obstruction of justice in connection with his pending trial on an alleged coup attempt.
Brazilian police accuse Bolsonaro of planning to flee
Bolsonaro is currently waiting for a Supreme Court ruling next month about an alleged coup attempt. He might face another case as police formally accused him and one of his sons of obstruction of justice. The Argentine government did not respond a request for comment from the AP. The AP had access to the police investigation and reviewed the documents, which were sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court. The former president saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office.
Bolsonaro is currently waiting for a Supreme Court ruling next month about an alleged coup attempt and he might face another case as police formally accused him and one of his sons of obstruction of justice in connection with his pending trial.
The AP had access to the police investigation and reviewed the documents, which were sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court. The Argentine government did not respond a request for comment from the AP.
Silas Malafaia, an evangelical pastor who is a staunch ally of Bolsonaro’s, was also targeted by police. He had his passport seized by investigators but was not formally accused of obstruction of justice.
Brazilian federal police investigators said in a 170-page report that Bolsonaro had a draft of a request for political asylum from Argentine President Javier Milei’s government dated Feb. 10, 2024. The former president saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office as part of an investigation into an alleged coup plot.
In a 33-page letter addressed to Milei, Bolsonaro claimed he was being politically persecuted in Brazil.
“I, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, request political asylum from Your Excellency in the Republic of Argentina, under an urgent regime, as I find myself in a situation of political persecution in Brazil and fear for my life,” the Brazilian leader wrote.
On Feb. 12, Bolsonaro reportedly spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, fueling speculation among critics that he may have been attempting to avoid arrest.
Brazilian federal police investigators also said in their report that Bolsonaro’s decision to ignore precautionary measures established for his house arrest and spread content to his allies “sought to directly hit Brazilian democratic institutions, notably the Supreme Court and even Brazil’s Congress.”
Brazil police file court documents accusing Bolsonaro of planning to flee to Argentina to seek asylum
Jair Bolsonaro is accused of conspiring to overturn the result of the 2022 presidential election, which he lost to his leftwing opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He denies the charges but some legal and political experts believe the weight of evidence means his conviction and a heavy sentence are virtually guaranteed. On Wednesday, federal police investigators filed a 170-page report to the supreme court claiming to have found a document that was saved on the ex-president’s phone in February 2024. In the report, police said the document indicated he was planning to seek political asylum in Argentina, which is governed by his far-right ally Javier Milei. The accusation came as federal police formally accused the former president and his congressman son of trying to interfere in his trial. The judgement is due to start on 2 September and end on 12 September. The report also exposed the foul-mouthed infighting that appears to be playing out between members of the Bolsonara clan and key supporters in the lead-up to the judgment.
The far-right populist is facing a jail term of over 40 years when Brazil’s supreme court convenes next month to decide whether he is guilty of conspiring to overturn the result of the 2022 presidential election, which Bolsonaro lost to his leftwing opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro denies the charges but some legal and political experts believe the weight of evidence means his conviction and a heavy sentence are virtually guaranteed.
On Wednesday, federal police investigators filed a 170-page report to the supreme court claiming to have found a document that was saved on the ex-president’s phone in February 2024 – two days after his passport was seized as a result of the coup investigation. In the report – which was reviewed by the Guardian – police said the document indicated he was planning to seek political asylum in Argentina, which is governed by his far-right ally Javier Milei.
“In my country of origin I am being persecuted for essentially political reasons and crimes,” Bolsonaro’s alleged draft asylum request claims, describing the former president as “a politically persecuted person”.
The undated and unsigned letter was addressed to “the most excellent president of Argentina Javier Gerardo Miliei [sic]”. It claimed Bolsonaro was “facing imminent arrest” – something the asylum request said would be “unjust, illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.
An Argentine government source told the Reuters news agency that Milei’s office had not received a letter.
Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 until the end of 2022, insists he hopes to challenge Lula in next year’s presidential election, despite having already been barred from running by the supreme court for spreading disinformation. He is currently living under house arrest in the capital, Brasília, after the supreme court found he had violated a court order forbidding him from using social media.
In their report to the supreme court, federal police alleged the letter indicated that Bolsonaro had “planned to flee the country, in order to prevent the law being enforced”.
The accusation that Bolsonaro had planned to flee Brazil for Argentina came as federal police formally accused the ex-president and his congressman son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, of trying to interfere in Bolsonaro’s upcoming judgment by encouraging US officials to pressure the supreme court. A formal accusation is a prelude to charges being brought. The judgement is due to start on 2 September and end on 12 September.
Eduardo Bolsonaro moved to the US in February and has spent recent months lobbying Donald Trump’s administration – with some success – to pile pressure on Brazil’s supreme court justices and President Lula’s government over his father’s trial.
In July Trump slapped 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports in retaliation for what he called a “witch-hunt” against Bolsonaro and announced sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes, the supreme court judge presiding over Bolsonaro’s trial.
Eight of Brazil’s 11 supreme court judges, including Moraes, have been stripped of their US visas, as have the wife and 10-year-old daughter of one of Lula’s closest allies, the health minister Alexandre Padilha.
“It’s really a political execution that they’re trying to do with Bolsonaro. I think that’s terrible,” Trump told reporters last week.
In other developments on a dramatic day for Brazilian politics, Silas Malafaia, a powerful and wealthy evangelical pastor who is one of Bolsonaro’s most vocal cheerleaders, was questioned by police after flying back from Portugal to Rio.
Malafaia, who is also being investigated by federal police over suspicions he too tried to influence the outcome of Bolsonaro’s trial, has now been banned from leaving the country, communicating with Bolsonaro and his son Eduardo and ordered to surrender his passports.
The police report to the supreme court also exposed the foul-mouthed infighting that appears to be playing out between members of the Bolsonaro clan and key supporters in the lead-up to the conclusion of the ex-president’s judgment.
In one WhatsApp exchange found on Jair Bolsonaro’s phone – which was seized as part of federal police investigations – Eduardo Bolsonaro reacts to an interview in which his father criticized him, writing in all capitals: “Go and fuck yourself you fucking ingrate!”
In another message, from Malafaia to Jair Bolsonaro, the firebrand church leader attacks Eduardo Bolsonaro for publicly celebrating Trump’s tariffs on Brazilian imports. “I’m sorry, president. This son of yours Eduardo is an inexperienced prick who is handing the nationalist discourse to Lula and the left … a complete idiot. I’m fuming!”
In a statement, Eduardo Bolsonaro criticised the police for “leaking private, absolutely normal conversations”. He called the move “shameful” and politically motivated.
Polls suggest Lula has received a boost in the polls after Trump’s attempts to pressure Brazil’s institutions, with more than 70% of Brazilians opposed to the US president’s actions and only 21% supporting them.
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Bolsonaro is currently waiting for a Supreme Court ruling next month about an alleged coup attempt. He might face another case as police formally accused him and one of his sons of obstruction of justice. The Argentine government did not respond to a request for comment from the AP. The AP had access to the police investigation and reviewed the documents, which were sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court. The former president saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office.
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s federal police said that messages found on the telephone of embattled former President Jair Bolsonaro show that at one point he wanted to flee to Argentina and request political asylum, according to documents seen Wednesday by the Associated Press.
Bolsonaro is currently waiting for a Supreme Court ruling next month about an alleged coup attempt and he might face another case as police formally accused him and one of his sons of obstruction of justice in connection with his pending trial.
The AP had access to the police investigation and reviewed the documents, which were sent to Brazil’s Supreme Court. The Argentine government did not respond a request for comment from the AP.
Silas Malafaia, an evangelical pastor who is a staunch ally of Bolsonaro’s, was also targeted by police. He had his passport seized by investigators but was not formally accused of obstruction of justice.
Brazilian federal police investigators said in a 170-page report that Bolsonaro had a draft of a request for political asylum from Argentine President Javier Milei’s government dated Feb. 10, 2024. The former president saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office as part of an investigation into an alleged coup plot.
In a 33-page letter addressed to Milei, Bolsonaro claimed he was being politically persecuted in Brazil.
“I, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, request political asylum from Your Excellency in the Republic of Argentina, under an urgent regime, as I find myself in a situation of political persecution in Brazil and fear for my life,” the Brazilian leader wrote.
On Feb. 12, Bolsonaro reportedly spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, fueling speculation among critics that he may have been attempting to avoid arrest.
Brazilian federal police investigators also said in their report that Bolsonaro’s decision to ignore precautionary measures established for his house arrest and spread content to his allies “sought to directly hit Brazilian democratic institutions, notably the Supreme Court and even Brazil’s Congress.”
Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.
Brazil Police Accuse Bolsonaro And Son Of Obstructing Coup Trial
Police say they found a 33-page draft asylum request on Bolsonaro’s phone. The document was dated a few days after police began investigating him in February 2024. The Supreme Court found the document demonstrated the accused is a “proven flight risk” The police recommended charging the pair with “coercion in the judicial process” and “abolition of the democratic law” The combined sentence for the two offenses could reach up to 12 years in prison, the police said. pastor Silas Malafaia and Paulo Figueiredo, the grandson of an ex-president, also should be charged, police say. The prosecutor’s office will decide whether to accept the police’s recommendation.
The police also revealed that Bolsonaro, who faces 40 years in prison if convicted of plotting in 2022 to overthrow his democratically elected successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had plans to seek asylum in Argentina last year.
Brazil’s Supreme Court will begin deciding on September 2 on the coup attempt charges against Bolsonaro, who led Latin America’s largest country from 2019 to 2022.
In a report released Wednesday, the police said they found a 33-page draft asylum request on Bolsonaro’s phone addressed to Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei.
In the document, which was dated a few days after police began investigating him in February 2024, Bolsonaro claimed he was the victim of “political persecution.”
The Supreme Court found the document demonstrated the accused is a “proven flight risk,” according to a ruling signed by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing Bolsonaro’s trial. Moraes also urged Bolsonaro’s defense team to provide an explanation within 48 hours.
In the report, the police also accused Bolsonaro and his US-based son Eduardo of engaging in “conduct intended to interfere with the criminal proceedings.”
The police recommended charging the pair with “coercion in the judicial process” and “abolition of the democratic law.”
The combined sentence for the two offenses could reach up to 12 years in prison.
The prosecutor’s office will decide whether to accept the police’s recommendation.
Bolsonaro — who has been under house arrest since early August — has maintained his innocence in the coup trial, which President Donald Trump, an ally, has called a “witch hunt.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro stepped down from his position as a Brazilian congressman in March and moved to the United States, where he is campaigning for the Trump administration to intercede on his father’s behalf.
He has successfully lobbied Trump to take punitive action against Brazil over the case. Trump has also imposed a massive 50 percent tariff on many Brazilian exports to the United States, citing the Bolsonaro trial.
Eduardo Bolsonaro responded to the police report on Wednesday by saying that his actions in the US “were never intended to interfere with any ongoing proceedings in Brazil.”
“I have always made it clear that my goal is restoring individual freedoms in the country,” he said on social media.
The police also recommended the charges for two Bolsonaro allies, evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia and Paulo Figueiredo, the grandson of ex-president Joao Figueiredo.
Malafaia allegedly helped Bolsonaro by “defining strategies of coercion and the dissemination of false narratives… which ultimately aim to coerce members of the judiciary,” the report said.
The Supreme Court ordered Malafaia’s home be searched and banned him from leaving Brazil. The pastor was also told to “immediately” testify to the police.
Figueiredo, who lives in the United States, allegedly advised Eduardo Bolsonaro on his lobbying of the White House, the police said.