The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, spoke out against the temporary release of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s passport, retained since last year, so that he can travel to the United States (USA), where he intends to participate in Donald Trump’s inauguration. Trump in the American presidency.
In an opinion sent to the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the head of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) maintains that the former president did not demonstrate the essential necessity or public interest of the trip.
“There is no evidence in the presentation of the request that the journey abroad would serve any vital interest of the applicant, capable of overriding the public interest that opposes the applicant’s departure from the country. The situation described does not reveal a basic, urgent and non-declinable, capable of exempting the command to remain in Brazil, deliberated for reasons of public order”, says the statement.
The PGR also noted that the former president does not have representation status for the country.
“Nor, in the petition, is there any evidence of public interest that qualifies the reservation to the precautionary measure in force as mandatory. It is pointless to point out that the applicant does not perform a function that confers the status of official representation of Brazil to his presence at the official ceremony in the United States”.
Last week, Bolsonaro’s defense requested that the STF authorize the return of his passport so that he could travel to the United States between the 17th and 22nd of January, in order to attend Trump’s inauguration, scheduled to take place on the 20th. in Washington.
In his first statement on the request, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, from the STF, told the former president’s lawyers that present an official document to the Courtfrom the United States government, to prove that Bolsonaro was formally invited to the inauguration ceremony of the American president. According to Moraes, the defense had only copied an email sent to federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), son of the former president, via an unidentified email address and without details of the inauguration ceremony.
In response, the former president’s defense reiterated the original request, claiming that the domain of the email address provided is temporary and related to the organization of the inauguration, which would be common in US presidential inaugurations. Bolsonaro’s lawyers also emphasized the international importance of the event and that the former president’s trip would not hinder the progress of the investigations against him.
Now, with the PGR’s statement, Minister Alexandre de Moraes must make the decision whether or not to authorize the temporary return of Bolsonaro’s passport.
The former president had his passport seized in February 2024, as part of Operation Tempus Veritatis, by the Federal Police (PF), which investigates a criminal organization suspected of acting to carry out a coup d’état and abolish the Democratic Rule of Law in Brazil with the aim of obtaining political advantages, keeping the former president in power. Since then, the politician’s defense has tried to retrieve the document on at least two occasions, but their requests were refused by minister Alexandre de Moraes.
