Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) joked, during a live broadcast in which he cut his hair alongside the former Minister of Tourism, Gilson Machado, who would shave off his beard just to attend the inauguration of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump.
“I want to disguise myself to travel around Brazil, but I’ll shave my beard, you can leave it,” said the former president.
However, Bolsonaro is unable to leave the country, as his passport is withheld due to a court order from Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
The measure was applied in February this year after which investigates the involvement of Bolsonaro and others involved in a coup plot after the 2022 election.
Bolsonaro has already tried to recover the document, but his request was denied at least twice by the Supreme Court.
A CNN spoke with lawyers Vera Chemim and Rafael Mafei about the case. According to them, Brazilian legislation does not impose any type of impediment for indicted people to leave the country, as the fact of being indicted does not mean that they have already been proven guilty.
“The indictment itself does not bring any restriction of rights, it is simply a formal announcement by the police chief that a crime has been investigated and the likely perpetrators of that crime are the people who have been indicted”, says Rafael Mafei, professor of Law from USP and ESPM.
However, both assess that after the latest developments in the Federal Police (PF) investigation, which resulted in yet another indictment of the former president — this time for attempted coup d’état — the
“It certainly doesn’t help, but for there to be a restriction against the recovery of the passport, the most important thing is that there are elements and circumstances of the present that indicate that returning the document will hinder the possibility that a case against Bolsonaro can be conducted and that if he if convicted, he will not be here to respond”, adds Mafei.
Rafael Mafei highlights that the return of the passport may be denied by the STF at this time, based on the understanding that a new indictment “increases the incentive for him to [Bolsonaro] try to escape, but this cannot be built on speculation”, he says. “It is necessary to have concrete elements that show that, in fact, he planned or is planning to escape from Brazil”, he adds.
For Vera Chemim, a specialist in Constitutional Law, if Bolsonaro decides to go to Trump’s inauguration — — even without a passport, he will sign “a confession of guilt”. He may even have his preventive detention ordered.
“He may suffer a greater number of precautionary restrictions or even be preventively arrested for this disobedience. I don’t believe Bolsonaro will act this way, as it wouldn’t be an intelligent attitude. He needs to ‘appear’ respectful towards the rapporteur [do inquérito, Alexandre de Moraes] and the future process that it will have to face”, assesses the specialist.
“While they are being investigated, or, if applicable, defendants in criminal proceedings, they have in their favor the fact that they enjoy the principle of presumption of innocence, which means that their guilt has not yet been proven”, explains Vera about the possibility of a new request for the return of the passport by Bolsonaro’s defense.
On the other hand, she says that “not authorizing the exit [do ex-presidente] It can also lead to the understanding that the principle of legality is being violated”.
As shown by the investigation of the CNNthe defense of the former president e. The analysis, however, is that the
