Brazil
Reuters
—
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday accused the country’s Supreme Court of persecuting him after his appeal against a travel ban was rejected.
Speaking at Brasilia airport, Bolsonaro, who had asked the Supreme Court to reconsider an earlier ruling barring him from traveling to the United States to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, said he faced “tremendous political persecution from one person.”
Bolsonaro’s lawyers filed an appeal late Thursday, saying the right-wing politician had fully complied with the precautionary measures imposed on him by the Supreme Court, and also rejected any possibility of a leak.
But Judge Alexandre de Moraes hours later upheld an earlier ruling rejecting the former president’s request to get his passport back, according to a document seen by Reuters.
Bolsonaro was at the airport to say goodbye to his wife Michelle, who will attend Trump’s inauguration.
Bolsonaro, who is barred from running for office until 2030 and faces criminal charges for allegedly planning a coup after his 2022 election defeat, has had his passport revoked in February 2024 by order of Brazil’s highest court.
Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022 and was nicknamed “Trump of the tropics,” said on Saturday that he had been invited to Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
