Last month, Brazil’s foreign ministry called in the ambassador of Hungary to clarify the situation of former president Jair Bolsonaro who stayed at the Hungarian embassy in Brasília for two nights while being investigated by federal police for connections to his close associates.
The New York Times acquired security footage which revealed that in the beginning of February, only four days subsequent to the arrest of two of Bolsonaro’s assistants for allegedly scheming to overthrow the Brazilian government, the far-right leader sought refuge in the embassy, which is located just a short distance from the presidential palace where Bolsonaro had previously resided.
According to The New York Times, Bolsonaro’s decision to stay at the embassy implied that he was trying to use his relationship with Hungary’s far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to avoid facing the Brazilian justice system, as he is currently under investigation for criminal charges in his home country.
Bolsonaro confirmed the report on Monday, stating to the Brazilian website Metrópoles: “I cannot deny that I was at the embassy. I will not disclose where else I have been. I have a group of friends who are heads of state in different parts of the world, and they express concerns about matters that affect our country. That is all. The rest is just speculation,” he said.
According to his legal team, the ex-president had been residing at the embassy in order to maintain communication with the government of a friendly nation. The lawyers refuted any other possible explanations as fabricated and lacking any factual basis, labeling them as false information.
Bolsonaro, who was ousted in late 2022 after losing the presidential election to his left-wing opponent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is currently under investigation for several criminal actions. These include allegations of falsifying Covid vaccination records, attempting to gain personal benefit from expensive foreign gifts, and most severely, conspiring to overthrow the government of his successor.
Bolsonaro was compelled to give up his passport on February 8th due to an ongoing federal police probe into a purported attempted uprising that occurred on January 8th, 2023 in the capital. Two trusted aides, Marcelo Costa Câmara and Filipe Martins, were taken into custody and locations connected to influential former members of Bolsonaro’s administration were investigated.
In the evening, Orbán expressed his support for Bolsonaro by tweeting a photo of them shaking hands and offering words of encouragement.” A humble patriot. Continue the fight, Mr. 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 sources, the ex-president stayed at the embassy until the afternoon of February 14th, at which point the ambassador bid him farewell.
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.
Prior to losing the election, Bolsonaro claimed that he only saw three potential outcomes for his future: imprisonment, death, or triumph. However, according to The New York Times video, there may be a fourth option being considered: beginning a new life as a guest at the Hungarian embassy, where he is protected from imprisonment by international law.
Calls were made for Bolsonaro to be held in custody to stop him from avoiding legal consequences, after reports surfaced of his two-day stay at the embassy. According to former national secretary of justice Augusto de Arruda Botelho, Bolsonaro’s actions were a typical cause for being detained as a precautionary measure.
The hashtag ‘Bolsonaro fujão’ was used by numerous social media users to poke fun at the ex-president. It roughly translates to ‘Bolsorunaway’.
According to reports, the Hungarian ambassador did not speak during his 20-minute discussion with Brazilian diplomats on Monday afternoon.
Source: theguardian.com
