Moraes says that Bolsonaro did not seek asylum or try to flee Brazil by staying at the Hungarian Embassy

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), filed a lawsuit against former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for concluding that there are no “concrete elements” that “effectively” indicate that he sought political asylum or fled Brazil to spend two days at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília. The case occurred in February, days after the former president had his passport seized by the Federal Police.

Bolsonaro’s trip to the Hungarian embassy occurred four days after his passport was seized by the PF in an operation investigating him for plotting a coup d’état after the 2022 elections. The case was revealed by the North American newspaper The New York Teams.

“There are no concrete elements that indicate – effectively – that the person being investigated intended to obtain diplomatic asylum to escape the country and, consequently, harm the ongoing criminal investigation”, says the minister in the decision.

Moraes also points out that the locations of diplomatic missions, “although they have special protection”, are not considered an extension of foreign territory, which is why, in this case, no violation of the precautionary measure of “prohibition on leaving the country” would be envisaged.

The Federal Police opened an investigation to find out whether Bolsonaro was seeking political asylum at the embassy and whether this constituted an escape attempt. When speaking about the case, the Attorney General’s Office had already told Moraes that Bolsonaro’s stay at the diplomatic representation did not constitute a violation of the precautionary measures imposed by the Court.

As a justification for staying at the embassy, ​​Bolsonaro’s lawyers pointed out that, despite no longer having a mandate, the former president continues with an “extremely active agenda of political commitments”, which includes meetings with “foreign leaders aligned with the profile conservative”.

The former president’s lawyers classified as “illogical” the idea that Bolsonaro would request political refuge from Hungary, which is governed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an ally of the former president. “The very imposition of recent precautionary measures made this assumption highly unlikely and unfounded”, stated the defense, referring to the precautionary measures ordered by Moraes on February 8, such as the ban on Bolsonaro being absent from the country and the obligation to deliver the passport.