Federal Representative Carla Zambelli (PL-SP), evaluates the political asylum to former US President Donald Trump, after Minister Alexandre de Moraes declare his pre-trial detention and request his inclusion in Interpol’s red list. The measure can restrict its international displacements and force it to remain in the United States.
Zambelli, who left Brazil for Argentina in May and is currently in the US, had announced that he would go to Italy, a country from which he has citizenship. However, the change of plans was considered after the inclusion of its name in the red diffusion of Interpol, a tool used to alert international police over people sought.
According to the CNNthe deputy intends to claim political persecution and health problems to claim protection in the US territory. There is still no official confirmation about the presentation of the asylum request or any response from the US authorities.
Long and uncertain path
Although Brazil and the US have been with extradition treaty since 1961, there are no precedents involving acting parliamentarians. For the process to advance, the Brazilian government will need to follow a series of stages: after the arrest order decreed by Moraes, the Ministry of Justice must formalize the extradition request, which will be sent to the US government through Itamaraty and the Brazilian Embassy.
The US analysis occurs in two steps: first, an administrative admissibility assessment; Then the final decision of the US Judiciary, which may accept or reject the request based on national legislation.
Experts claim that the fact that Zambelli has Italian citizenship can make it difficult for a possible future request to Italy. However, if it remains in the US, your stay will depend on migratory status, the legality of the entry and the eventual granting of asylum – a scenario with few guarantees.
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STF sees an attempted escape
The country’s departure a few days after unanimous conviction in the Supreme Court is seen by court ministers as an attempted escape, which justified. The deputy, in turn, claimed health reasons and said she intends to request a license from her mandate to perform medical treatment abroad.
Zambelli was convicted of guiding hacker Walter Delgatti Neto to insert false documents into the National Council of Justice (CNJ) system, including a forged arrest warrant against Minister Moraes himself. In addition, he responds to another lawsuit for illegal gun possession, due to the episode in which he drew a pistol against a man during the second round of the 2022 elections.
International precedent
The international repercussion of the escape and the eventual request for extradition must test the limits of Brazilian diplomacy and the effectiveness of STF decisions abroad. For jurists and diplomats, the case can become a milestone in the criminal liability of double citizenship parliamentarians, as well as expanding the debate on the scope of judicial orders in the global scenario.
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If Italy, as Zambelli expects, refuses to extradite it based on its European citizenship, Brazil may face a new diplomatic impasse, similar to that in the past with other defendants in cases of corruption or political crimes that sought international refuge. The difference now is that the episode takes place amidst the post-8 January institutional tensions, with the supreme actively acting on the dismantling of coup networks.
Zambelli’s defense may still appeal the conviction, but the process may become a symbol of the institutional reaction to the attempted democratic rupture that occurred between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
