De Moraes, a self-styled “anti-fake news” crusader and rapporteur of several open cases against Bolsonaro, reportedly upheld his ruling in the early hours of Friday morning and forwarded the case to the Office of the Attorney General, which must issue a response within five days in accordance with local laws.
On Thursday, de Moraes denied Bolsonaro’s request to have his passport temporarily returned to him so he can travel to the United States to attend President-elect Trump’s inauguration after receiving an invitation via email from the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee through his son, lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Former President Bolsonaro has been banned from leaving Brazil since February 2024 after de Moraes ordered local police to seize his passport as part of a broad probe into an alleged “coup” plot following his narrow defeat in the 2022 presidential election.
De Moraes justified his refusal by claiming that Bolsonaro did not submit sufficient documentation to prove he had been invited to the January 20 presidential inauguration — and that Bolsonaro offered “indications” that he may try to flee the country and claim political asylum if allowed to travel.
The Brazilian Supreme Court justice also justified his ruling in statements issued by Bolsonaro in the past, in which he “publicly expressed support for the escape of those convicted of the January 8 attacks and their clandestine stay abroad, especially in Argentina.”
Shortly after the ruling, former President Bolsonaro spoke to CNN Brasil and stated that his legal team would file an appeal, asserting that, “in the past, people who have been convicted have been granted passports to travel.” Bolsonaro also compared his situation to that of President-elect Trump in recent years.
“What I’m going through here is the same thing Trump went through in the United States. He even suffered an assassination attempt there and I suffered one here,” Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil.
Bolsonaro’s legal team filed the now-rejected appeal request on Thursday evening, asking the Brazilian top court to reconsider its decision against the former president. Local outlets published copies of the appeal request in which Bolsonaro’s legal team argued that some of the arguments espoused by de Moraes in his ruling “do not reflect reality, or do not serve as grounds to prevent the petitioner from traveling…”
The former president’s legal team asserted that Bolsonaro’s passport was seized without “any difficulty,” pointing out that Bolsonaro was not in possession of his passport when police officers seized it from the headquarters of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party (PL) in Brasilia. Bolsonaro’s lawyers argued this was “the opposite of the attitude of those who consider or intend to prevent the application of criminal law.”
“Since then, the precautionary measures imposed on the Petitioner have been fully complied with and respected. Therefore, there is nothing to suggest that the occasional return of his passport, for a limited and justified period, could jeopardize this reality,” the document read. “It is certain that, on his return, the passport will be promptly returned to the Supreme Federal Court.”
The now-rejected appeal cited Bolsonaro’s attendance at Argentine President Javier Milei’s inauguration in December 2023 and his swift return to Brazilian territory as “concrete” evidence that Bolsonaro intends to remain in Brazil. Bolsonaro’s legal team refuted de Moraes justifying his ruling using Bolsonaro’s statements pertaining to the escape of individuals involved in the January 8 events by arguing that such statements are protected by freedom of speech.
Bolsonaro’s defense requested in the appeal that, if de Moraes did not reconsider the ruling, he take the case to trial “by the competent collegiate body, observing the urgency that the case requires.”
Former President Bolsonaro has not publicly commented on the rejection of his appeal at press time.
At the time his legal team filed the appeal request, Bolsonaro’s office published a statement on social media condemning de Moraes’ refusal to allow him to travel to the United States as a “grave disappointment” not just for him, but for the “millions of Brazilians he represents and for the enduring friendship between Brazil and the United States.”
“President Trump’s invitation to Bolsonaro symbolizes the deep ties between two of the largest democracies in the Americas,” the statement read. “The decision to prevent Bolsonaro from attending this very important event diminishes Brazil’s position on the global stage and sends a worrying message about the state of democracy and justice in our country.”
The statement condemned the ruling as yet another example of lawfare being weaponized against the former president to “neutralize him as a political opponent in the courts, so as not to face him at the ballot box.”
“The Lula government clearly learned from mistakes in the United States, where the justice system was instrumentalized for political gain: but there they didn’t act fast enough to destroy their political opponent, Donald Trump, and he overcame this judicial activism. I will too,” the statement read.
Prior to the appeal’s rejection, Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, published a video on social media on Thursday condemning de Moraes’ refusal and accusing the Brazilian judiciary of engaging in political persecution against his father — the former president.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here
Breitbart News
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