A document found on the mobile phone of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro suggests he had planned to flee to Argentina ahead of his judgment for allegedly plotting a military coup, according to a claim made by Brazilian police in court documents.

Although Bolsonaro denies the charges, some legal and political experts, considering the weight of the evidence, believe his conviction and a heavy sentence are virtually guaranteed.

A document saved on the ex-president’s phone in February 2024, just two days after his passport was seized as a result of the coup investigation, was detailed in a 170-page report that federal police investigators filed with the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

According to the report, which The Guardian reviewed, police said the document indicated he was planning to seek political asylum in Argentina, a country governed by his far-right ally Javier Milei.

Bolsonaro’s alleged draft asylum request, which claims, “In my country of origin I am being persecuted for essentially political reasons and crimes,” describes the former president as “a politically persecuted person”.

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The undated and unsigned letter, which was addressed to Argentine President Javier Gerardo Milei with a misspelling of his last name, asserted that Bolsonaro was facing imminent arrest and characterized that potential arrest as an unjust, illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional act. An Argentinian government source told Reuters that President Milei's office did not receive the letter.

In their report to the Supreme Court, federal police alleged that the letter indicated a plan by Bolsonaro to flee, specifically that he had “planned to flee the country, to prevent the law being enforced”.

Bolsonaro placed under house arrest

Bolsonaro, having been placed under house arrest by the Supreme Court for violating a social media ban, now faces an intensifying legal and political standoff, while also standing accused of plotting a coup to remain in power after his 2022 election loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the trial and who issued the house arrest order following Bolsonaro’s "repeated failure" to comply with restrictions, has barred the 70-year-old from social media during the trial while also prohibiting third parties from sharing his public remarks.

The trigger for this action came on August 5, when Bolsonaro's allies shared online footage of a call between him and his son, Flavio Bolsonaro, at a solidarity rally in Rio de Janeiro, an act which directly violated court-imposed bans. Justice Moraes, responding sharply to the provocation, stated that the judiciary would not be treated like a fool on account of Bolsonaro's political and economic power.

In addition to house arrest in his Brasília residence, Bolsonaro, who is now forbidden from receiving visitors except for legal counsel and from using mobile phones, had several mobile phones seized from his home by authorities on Monday.