Brazilian court rejects Bolsonaro appeal against 8-year political ban
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The former president's appeal is denied by the seven-magistrate court in Brazil that bans him from political office until 2030, as he scrambles to justify his abuse of political power.
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Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Oct. 28, 2022 (AFP)
Brazil's Superior Electoral Court on Thursday shut down former president Jair Bolsonaro's appeal against an earlier ruling that banned him from running for office for 8 years until 2030.
Back in June, Bolsonaro was blocked from participating in the next presidential election due to take place in 2026, after being accused of "abuse of political power and misuse of the media" over his ill-based claims of the country's electoral system being prone to fraud.
In the first ruling, the court stated that Bolsonaro used false information to undermine the reliability of the electronic ballot box system a mere three months before the presidential election in 2022 which witnessed his loss against leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
His appeal was unanimously denied by the seven-magistrate court, which Bolsonaro called a "stab in the back", after having previously said that he would also appeal before the Supreme Federal Court, Brazil's highest judicial forum.
Bolsonaro is not only entangled in scandals but is being investigated by police for his role in the January 8 attacks in Brasilia in an attempt to overturn Lula da Silva's government.
Read next: Bolsonaro met with navy, army, air force chiefs to discuss coup
Last month, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge gave police permission to search the bank accounts of Jair and Michelle Bolsonaro, who are accused of embezzling jewelry and official gifts while they were in office.
Brazilian authorities are investigating Jair Bolsonaro's participation in the theft of official gifts, which initially made headlines in March. The controversy involved lavish gifts from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and first made news three months after Bolsonaro stepped down following his loss of the election last October.
