The alleged “escape” from Brazil of three parliamentarians who were in Jair Bolsonaro’s closest circle during his government was one of the essential factors in justifying the former president’s arrest this Saturday morning.
In recent months, federal deputies Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ) and Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) left the country. In the cases of Ramagem and Zabelli, this occurred during legal proceedings.
The trio’s decision, however, also served to justify what investigators saw as a concrete and imminent risk of Jair Bolsonaro’s escape, with the repetition of the same script by his allies.
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In the decision, Moraes made it clear that he did not consider the three cases to be isolated, but part of a recurring strategy of evasion from the country. According to the magistrate, this sequence of events made it unsustainable to maintain Bolsonaro’s house arrest, monitored only by an electronic ankle bracelet that was subject to violation during the early hours of the morning.
“As if the extremely serious evidence of the possible escape attempt by the defendant Jair Messias Bolsonaro mentioned above were not enough, it is important to highlight that the co-defendant Alexandre Ramagem Rodrigues, his political ally Carla Zambelli, both convicted by this Supreme Court; and the defendant’s son, Eduardo Nantes Bolsonaro, denounced by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in the Federal Supreme Court, also used the strategy of evading the national territory, with the aim of escaping from the application of criminal law”, wrote Moraes.
Remember how each of those involved left the country:
Eduardo Bolsonaro
Unlike the other two allies, Eduardo Bolsonaro was the only one who had not, until then, been denounced when he decided to leave the country. However, the federal deputy chose to anticipate possible measures determined by minister Alexandre de Moraes. More than that, his actions in the United States, with the country’s government, to impose sanctions on the Brazilian government and ministers of the Federal Supreme Court were the reason for his complaint by the Attorney General’s Office.
Eduardo Bolsonaro took a leave of absence from the Chamber in March this year and announced his move to the North American country, justifying political persecution by Alexandre de Moraes. According to him, his stay abroad would serve to denounce abuses committed by the Supreme Court minister.
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Alexandre Ramagem
More recently, the situation of the federal deputy and former director of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) was more serious, as Ramagem had already been convicted as part of the coup plot trial. Sentenced to 16 years and one month in prison, Ramagem was prohibited from leaving the country, but managed to cross the border and later reach the United States, where he has been living in a luxury condominium in Florida for the past few weeks. The PF is investigating how the parliamentarian managed to leave the country. One of the suspicions is that he crossed overland to another country in South America and, from there, traveled to the United States.
This Friday, before ordering Bolsonaro’s arrest, Moraes also ordered the arrest of Alexandre Ramagem. In a statement, Ramagem’s defense said that “the deputy’s decision to leave the country was only notified this week, and that is why he will not comment, for now, on the fact and its consequences”.
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In a note, the Chamber of Deputies stated that Ramagem presented a medical certificate from September 9th to October 8th and from October 13th to December 12th.
Carla Zambelli
Representative Carla Zambelli, in turn, adopted a different strategy to flee the country. Convicted of ideological falsehood for the invasion of the National Justice Council (CNJ) system, Zambelli’s final destination was Italy.
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Initially, the parliamentarian justified her flight for health treatment, but later stated that, as she had Italian citizenship, she could not be extradited by Minister Alexandre de Moraes. In July this year, however, she was arrested in the European country after having her name included on the Interpol red list at the request of the Brazilian government. At the end of October, the Italian Public Prosecutor’s Office gave a favorable opinion on Zambelli’s extradition, but to date she remains imprisoned in the country.
