Lawyer warns Bolsonaro might flee Brazil in view of accusations

[Judi Lynn]

Brasilia, Aug 19 (Prensa Latina) The Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, asked to seize the passport of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who could leave Brazil in the face of confessions of a computing expert that implicate him in cyberattacks on the electoral system.

August 19, 2023
15:52

“Make no mistake, seize (Bolsonaro’s) passport as quickly as possible, because he who fled to avoid passing the presidential sash to a legitimately elected president, will certainly want to leave Brazil in order to save his own skin,” Tebet warned.

During the inauguration of the new head of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, Marcio Pochmann, the lawyer applauded the confidences of computing engineer Walter Delgatti in the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (PCI) on the coup actions of January 8 in Brasilia.

In his testimony, the computer scientist directly accused Bolsonaro of trying to invade the system of the electronic machines in the past elections in which Inacio Lula da Silva was elected president.

For Tebet, “thanks to the work done by the Federal Police operation and the testimonies given at the PCI this week, we can say that the siege has been closed against the former president of the Republic”.

He said that the former military officer “is accused of being the mastermind behind the attempted fraud of the electronic ballot boxes and attempted fraud against the always legitimate decision of the Brazilian president to elect his successor”.

More:
https://www.plenglish.com/news/2023/08/19/lawyer-warns-bolsonaro-might-flee-brazil-in-view-of-accusations/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Bolsonaro's mounting legal troubles raise prospect of his arrest

By ANDREW ROSATI AND DANIEL CARVALHO
BLOOMBERG NEWS • August 19, 2023

RIO DE JANEIRO (Tribune News Service) — Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has found himself in a tailspin of legal trouble since leaving office at the end of last year.

Police have raided his home. He has testified to authorities on four separate occasions. Some of his closest allies have been arrested. And late Thursday, local news outlets reported that a top judge granted investigators access to his bank and tax records.

Brazil’s electoral authority barred the right-wing former leader from seeking public office for eight years in June. Now Bolsonaro’s growing legal problems have raised the prospect that he may ultimately face arrest and jail time.

The 68-year-old former army captain, who spread conspiracies about vote fraud throughout last year’s election, is facing investigations over whether he played a role in Jan. 8 riots in Brasilia, when supporters stormed major government buildings in an apparent effort to overturn his defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

More:
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/americas/2023-08-19/brazil-army-veteran-bolsonaro-legal-troubles-arrest-11095448.html