On February 8, Brazil’s Federal Police confiscated former President Jair Bolsonaro’s passport and arrested two of his former aides on charges of planning a coup after Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential elections.
Four days later, Bolsonaro was at the entrance of the Hungarian Embassy in Brazil, waiting to enter, according to security camera footage from the embassy obtained by The New York Times.
The former president appears to have stayed at the embassy for the next two days, according to the footage, accompanied by two security guards and served by the Hungarian ambassador and his staff.
Bolsonaro, who is the target of several criminal investigations, cannot be arrested in a foreign embassy that hosts him, as he would be legally out of reach of national authorities.
The stay at the embassy suggests that the former president was trying to leverage his friendship with a fellow far-right leader, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in an attempt to escape Brazilian justice.
The Times analyzed footage from three days of four cameras at the Hungarian Embassy, showing that Bolsonaro arrived on the night of Monday, February 12, and left on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 14.
An employee of the Hungarian embassy, who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, confirmed the plan to host Bolsonaro.
After the article was published, Bolsonaro confirmed his stay at the embassy. “I will not deny that I was at the embassy,” he told Metrópoles, a Brazilian newspaper, on Monday (25). “I have a circle of friends with some world leaders. They are concerned.
The Hungarian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment from The New York Times.
Bolsonaro faces serious criminal investigations in Brazil. In the 15 months since leaving office, his home has been searched, his cell phone and passport confiscated, and several of his allies and former aides have been arrested.
The cases involve a variety of accusations, including that he participated in conspiracies to sell jewelry he received as gifts from the state while he was president and falsified his Covid-19 vaccination records to travel to the United States. Brazil’s Federal Police recommended criminal charges against the former president last week in the case involving fake Covid-19 vaccination cards, but prosecutors have yet to weigh in.
Among the most serious accusations, police say Bolsonaro conspired with several of his top ministers and aides to try to maintain power after being defeated in the elections. Police arrested some of his key allies on February 8 and searched the homes of others.
Hours after the accusation became public, Orbán posted a message of encouragement for Bolsonaro, calling him “an honest patriot” and telling him to “keep fighting.”
Bolsonaro said this month that he was not worried about being arrested.
“I could very well be in another country, but I decided to come back here at all costs,” he said at a political event. “I am not afraid.”
Source: The New York Times