On February 8, the Federal Police of Brazil the former president’s passport confiscated Jair Bolsonaro and arrested a pair of his former aides on charges of planning a coup after Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential election.
Four days later, Bolsonaro was at the entrance to the Hungarian embassy in Brazil, waiting to be let in, according to footage from the embassy’s security camera, obtained by the New York Times.
The footage shows that the former president remained in the embassy for the next two days, accompanied by two security guards and assisted by the Hungarian ambassador and staff members. Bolsonaro, the subject of numerous criminal investigations, cannot be arrested at a foreign embassy that welcomes him, because legally he is beyond the reach of national authorities.
The embassy stay suggests the former president was trying to take advantage of his friendship with another far-right leader, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in a bid to evade Brazil’s justice system while facing criminal investigations in his country.
The Times analyzed three days of footage from four Hungarian embassy cameras that show Bolsonaro arrived late on Feb. 12 and left on the afternoon of Feb. 14. Meanwhile he remained mostly out of sight.
The Times verified the images against those from the embassy, including satellite images that showed the car in which Bolsonaro arrived parked in the driveway on February 13.
A Hungarian embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, confirmed the plan to receive Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro’s lawyer declined to comment. The Hungarian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bolsonaro and Orban have had a close relationship for years, finding common ground as two of the most right-wing leaders in democratic nations.
Bolsonaro called Orban his “brother” during a visit to Hungary in 2022. That same year, the Hungarian Foreign Minister asked a Bolsonaro administration official whether Hungary could do something to help re-elect Bolsonaro. according to the Brazilian government’s summary of his comments.
In December, Bolsonaro and Orban met in Buenos Aires at the inauguration of Argentina’s new right-wing president, Javier Milei. There, Orban called Bolsonaro a “hero.”
Bolsonaro faces deepening criminal investigations in Brazil. In the 15 months since he left office, his home has been raided, his cell phone and passport have been confiscated and many of his allies and former associates have been arrested.
The cases against Bolsonaro involve a series of charges, including that he participated in plots to sell state-issued jewelry while he was president and that he falsified his COVID-19 vaccination records so he could travel to the United States. Brazil’s federal police last week recommended criminal charges against the former president in the case of fake Covid vaccination cards, but prosecutors have not yet commented.
In the most serious allegations, police said Bolsonaro conspired with many of his top ministers and aides to try to stay in power after his election defeat. Police arrested some of his key allies on February 8 and raided the homes of others.
Hours later, Orban sent a message of encouragement to Bolsonaro, calling him “an honest patriot” and telling him to “keep fighting.”
On February 12, four days later, Bolsonaro posted a video online inviting his followers to a rally in Sao Paulo that month. “I want to defend myself from all these accusations,” he said in the video. “Until then, God willing.”
The same day he went to the Hungarian embassy.
Pictures
Moments before his arrival, security footage shows Miklós Halmai, the country’s ambassador to Brazil, pacing and typing on his phone. The small embassy was virtually empty, except for a handful of Hungarian diplomats who live there. The local staff members were on vacation, as Bolsonaro’s stay occurred during the Brazilian National Carnival celebrations.
At 9.34pm a black car appeared in front of the embassy door. A man came out and finally clapped his hands to get the attention of someone inside. Three minutes later, Halmai opened the door and indicated where to park.
Bolsonaro and two men who appeared to be security guards exited the vehicle. He halmai led them inside. After chatting briefly, the four men boarded an elevator.
Over the next two hours, embassy staff made several trips to an area of the building where there were two guest apartments, according to the footage and the embassy official. They brought bedding, water and other belongings, until the activity ceased at 11.40pm.
The next day, at 7.26am, Halmai left the residential area and wrote on his phone. Half an hour later, the ambassador and another man brought a coffee pot to the residential area.
For the rest of the day, Hungarian staff roamed the embassy grounds, including parents with a child.
In the early afternoon, Bolsonaro walked through the embassy parking lot with one of his security guards.
On two occasions Bolsonaro’s security guards left. Around lunch, a guard returned with what appeared to be a pizza.
At 8:38 p.m., a guard returned to the embassy parking lot with another man in the back seat. Carrying a bag, the man entered the residential area where Bolsonaro appeared to be staying. The man left 38 minutes later.
As the car drove off, a man who resembled Bolsonaro came out of the residential area to watch.
On February 14, according to the embassy official, Hungarian diplomats contacted local Brazilian staff, who were scheduled to return to work the next day, and told them to stay home for the rest of the week. They did not say why, the official said.
That day, Bolsonaro first appears in security camera footage at 4.14pm, when he and his two guards left the residential area with two backpacks and headed straight to his car. Halmai was behind. The ambassador watched the car drive away and waved.
Speculations
The specter of a prison sentence for Bolsonaro has sparked widespread speculation that he may try to escape justice. Two of his children have applied for Italian passports, prompting the country’s foreign minister to publicly deny that Bolsonaro, of Italian origin, had also applied for citizenship.
The night before leaving office, Bolsonaro flew to Florida and stayed there for three months. One of his most prominent supporters, a far-right pundit named Allan dos Santos, managed to avoid arrest in Brazil on charges of threatening federal judges while seeking political asylum in the United States.
Two weeks after Bolsonaro left the embassy (it is unclear why he left), he held his planned demonstration in Sao Paulo. Independent observers estimated that 185,000 followers participated. At the rally, Bolsonaro reiterated his defense of being a victim of political persecution.
He and his lawyers argued that Brazil’s Supreme Court abused its power, interfered in the 2022 election and is now trying to jail him and his allies. They recently referred to recordings of a former Bolsonaro aide, whose confessions have become central to the investigation, arguing that investigators have a predetermined narrative that Bolsonaro is guilty.
In the weeks that followed, Bolsonaro’s legal problems worsened. The country’s Supreme Court has released documents showing that Brazilian army and air force leaders told police that after losing the 2022 election, Bolsonaro presented military leaders with a plan to overturn the results. Military leaders told police they refused and warned the former president they might arrest him if he attempted to do so.
Bolsonaro said this month that he was not worried about being arrested.
“I could very well be in another country, but I have decided to come back here at all costs,” he said at a political event. “I’m not afraid.”
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.