Regularly confronted with the law, Donald Trump will perhaps find inspiration from the former president of Brazil.
Jair Bolsonaro was “hosted for two days” recently at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia, his lawyers said on Monday, while denying that he had taken refuge there to escape justice.
The defense of the former far-right leader (2019-2022) released a statement in reaction to a New York Times article claiming that their client had “hid in the Hungarian embassy” in February, while he was “targeted by investigations”.
The American daily revealed, using video surveillance images, that Jair Bolsonaro had stayed in this embassy from February 12 to 14, a few days after a police operation during which he was prohibited from leaving the territory.
On February 8, this operation of unprecedented scale had the effect of an earthquake.
Investigators had detailed their suspicions of a “coup attempt” fomented by Jair Bolsonaro and those close to him to stave off his 2022 electoral defeat against current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
" Fiction "
Video surveillance images published by the New York Times show the ex-president entering the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia on the evening of February 12 and leaving on the 14th in the afternoon.
The former Brazilian president “was hosted for two days at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia for contacts with the authorities of this friendly country,” his lawyers said.
“It is common knowledge that the ex-president has a good relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister” Viktor Orban, they added.
On February 8, the Hungarian leader called Jair Bolsonaro an “honest patriot” on social networks, encouraging him to “continue fighting”.
“During the days when he was hosted in the Magyar embassy, by invitation, the former Brazilian president spoke with several authorities (…) about the political context of the two countries,” said the lawyers of the former head of state.
“Any other interpretation (…) is fiction,” they insisted, denouncing “fake news.”
Declared ineligible last June for having disseminated false information about the Brazilian system of electronic ballot boxes, Jair Bolsonaro, 69, is the target of several investigations.
Last week, the federal police recommended his indictment in a case of falsification of vaccination certificates against Covid-19.