Brazils Flavio Bolsonaro Ordered to Surrender Passport After Election Loss
Flavio Bolsonaro must surrender his passport and is barred from leaving Brazil following his election defeat, amid ongoing investigations.
Rio de Janeiro, October 27 (Daily Kiran) : Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered Flavio Bolsonaro, the losing candidate in the recent presidential election, to surrender his passport to federal police. He is also prohibited from leaving the country.
According to reports from Brazilian media and government news agencies, this confidential order is part of an investigation involving Bolsonaro and his lawyer, Willer Tomaz. The federal police are currently probing allegations of money laundering and illegal foreign currency transactions against both individuals.
Additionally, Judge Moraes has prohibited Bolsonaro from contacting Tomaz. The decision comes in the wake of the presidential election’s decisive second round, where incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva emerged victorious. The Superior Electoral Court announced the results late Sunday night.
After all votes were counted, Lula da Silva secured 51.79% of the valid votes, while Bolsonaro received 48.21%. Following the election results, Bolsonaro expressed his belief that accepting the outcome was “impossible.” He called for the election to be annulled, claiming that extending voting hours led to unequal treatment of voters.
On the same day, Brazil’s Supreme Court extended voting hours by two hours due to obstacles in public transportation and heavy rain, but this applied only to polling stations that were still open at the time of the order. Polling stations that had already closed were not reopened.
Bolsonaro argued that this decision adversely affected voters in areas where polling stations did not reopen. He stated that his legal team would challenge the election results in court.
Under Brazil’s electoral regulations, if no candidate receives more than 50% of the valid votes in the first round, a second round is held between the two candidates with the highest votes. In the initial round on October 4, Bolsonaro led with nearly 47% of the votes, while Lula da Silva garnered about 45%. However, Lula da Silva’s lead in the final round secured him another term as president.
