Brazil's Supreme Court has rejected former President Jair Bolsonaro's request to return his passport for the purpose of traveling to Israel, an official document said on Friday.
Bolsonaro's lawyers said in a statement Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had invited him to an event in May. His lawyers asked the Supreme Court earlier this week for his passport to be returned.
Bolsonaro's passport was seized in February during an investigation into an alleged coup attempt after he lost the 2022 election to his rival and successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Supreme Court rules passport return 'premature'
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said in his ruling that it was “completely premature to lift the restrictions imposed on the subjects of the investigation,” echoing the Attorney General's office, which Moraes cited. It was in line with the recommendations.
Bolsonaro's passport was confiscated to prevent him from leaving the country, given the “danger to the development of the criminal investigation and the possible application of criminal law,” the prosecutor general said in an earlier opinion.
Lawyers submitted Bolsonaro's request to the Supreme Court on Monday, which submitted its report the same day. new york times It was revealed that Bolsonaro spent two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia last month.
The report sparked widespread speculation among opponents that the former president was trying to evade arrest.
Lula banned from entering Israel
The far-right Bolsonaro remains a key ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Brazil's leftist leader Lula has been declared “persona non grata” by the Israeli government.
The conflict between Israeli and Brazilian leaders escalated in February after Lula compared Israel's military operations in Gaza.in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed approximately 1,200 people, and in retaliation for the Holocaust.
Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by many governments, including Israel, Germany, and the United States.
Lula accuses Israel of “genocide” in Gaza, claiming Israeli military operations are similar to Adolf Hitler's extermination of an estimated 6 million Jews during World War II did. More than 62,600 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave since Hamas launched its offensive on October 7, according to the Hamas-led Gaza Health Ministry.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lula had crossed a “red line that should not be crossed” and declared that Israel did not welcome the Brazilian leader.
rm/ab (AP, AFP)
