The Hungarian ambassador was called in by Brazil’s foreign ministry to clarify the reason behind former president Jair Bolsonaro’s stay at Hungary’s embassy in Brasília for two nights while federal police were investigating his associates.
Security footage obtained by the New York Times showed that in early February – four days after two Bolsonaro aides were arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the Brazilian government – the rightwing populist took shelter in the embassy, a short drive from the presidential palace Bolsonaro once occupied.
The New York Times reported that Bolsonaro’s decision to stay at the embassy indicated that he was attempting to use his relationship with fellow far-right leader Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as a way to evade the Brazilian justice system in the midst of facing criminal investigations in his own country.
On Monday, Bolsonaro confirmed the information, stating to the Brazilian news site Metrópoles: “I will not deny my presence at the embassy… I will not disclose other places I have been. I have a group of friends who are heads of state from various countries. They are concerned. I discuss matters that are in our country’s best interest with them. End of story. The rest is just speculation,” he said.
According to a statement from the ex-president’s legal team, he was residing in the embassy to maintain communication with a friendly nation’s leaders. They dismissed any other interpretations as fictional and not based on facts, labeling them as false information.
In late 2022, Bolsonaro was defeated in the presidential election by his left-leaning opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and subsequently lost his position. He currently faces multiple criminal investigations for allegedly falsifying Covid vaccination records, attempting to unlawfully obtain expensive foreign gifts, and plotting to oust his successor’s government.
Update: Bolsonaro had to give up his passport on 8 February following an investigation by the federal police regarding the reported attempted coup on 8 January 2023. The incident reportedly involved Bolsonaro supporters causing chaos in the capital. Two of Bolsonaro’s close aides, Marcelo Costa Câmara and Filipe Martins, were taken into custody and authorities searched locations tied to influential former members of Bolsonaro’s administration.
In the evening, Orbán posted a photo on Twitter where he can be seen shaking hands with Bolsonaro and sending words of encouragement. He hailed him as a genuine patriot and encouraged him to keep up the fight as president.
Four days later, at 9.34pm on Monday 12 February, a black saloon car appeared at the gate of Hungary’s embassy in Brazil, according to the images obtained by the New York Times. Three minutes later the ambassador, Miklós Halmai, appeared to let his visitor in. Bolsonaro was taken inside.
According to reports, the ex-president stayed at the embassy until the afternoon of February 14th, when the ambassador said goodbye to him.
Bolsonaro did not make clear why he had decided to visit the embassy. However, he has publicly voiced fears of meeting the same fate as Bolivia’s former president, Jeanine Áñez. In 2022, Áñez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of helping orchestrate an alleged 2019 coup that brought her to power after the fall of President Evo Morales.
Before his election defeat, Bolsonaro said he saw only three possible futures for himself: prison, death or victory. The New York Times’s video suggests a fourth alternative may now be under consideration: a new life as a lodger in the Hungarian embassy, where under international law he cannot be arrested.
The news of Bolsonaro taking a two-day break at the embassy has sparked demands for his detention in order to ensure he does not evade justice. Augusto de Arruda Botelho, former national secretary of justice, stated on Twitter that Bolsonaro’s actions of seeking refuge at the embassy are a common reason for being held in preventive detention.
Many social media users mocked the former president using the hashtag ‘Bolsonaro fujão’, which translates roughly as Bolsorunaway.
According to reports, the Hungarian ambassador did not speak during his 20-minute meeting with Brazilian diplomats on Monday afternoon.
Source: theguardian.com
