Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro seeks US visa to avoid probe
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Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro requests a six-month visa to remain in the US, despite having previously announced he will return to Brazil.
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A screenshot taken from a video released by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on his YouTube account on November 2 (AFP)
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is being probed as part of the investigations pertaining to the January 8 riots in Brasilia, has requested a six-month visa to remain in the US, according to his attorney.
As his term as president ended in late December, Bolsonaro boarded a flight to Florida without even waiting for the official inauguration of his successor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Initially, Bolsonaro was believed to have arrived on a visa intended for visiting world leaders, but because he was no longer on official business, the existing visa is set to expire on Tuesday.
According to AG Immigration Group, a California-based law firm, Bolsonaro has requested a six-month visa to stay in the United States.
The firm, in a statement, noted, "We look forward to achieving the highest level of satisfaction and desired results for our client."
Earlier on January 20, Brazilian sources reported that Bolsonaro has decided to stay in the United States at least until the end of February.
The Metropoles newspaper reported that Bolsonaro was advised to remain in the US due to concerns that he may be detained in light of the current investigation into Brasilia's far-right protests.
This means that as the situation in Brazil intensifies, the former President is postponing his trip after previously stating that he would return to Brazil in January.
The January 8 riots probed
The Supreme Court in Brazil, in its investigation into the incitement of the January 8 Brazil riots, agreed, on January 14, to include Bolsonaro.
The request to investigate Bolsonaro came from the Attorney General's office to the Supreme Court in a statement, on Friday, that specified that the investigation looked at the “instigation and intellectual authorship of anti-democratic acts that resulted in episodes of vandalism and violence in Brasilia last Sunday.”
According to the court, there are seven different probes pertaining to the January 8 riots in Brasilia, including one investigating Bolsonaro's ties.
A video that questioned the electoral process
The evidence cited by the AG's office which compelled Justice Alexandre de Moraes to grant the request was a video that Bolsonaro had posted on Facebook two days after the Brasilia riots, in which an attorney in Mato Grosso allegedly questioned the legitimacy of Brazil's presidential election that brought President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to office once again.
More specifically, the video argued that Lula da Silva's election was brought on by a decision from the Supreme Court and Brazil's electoral offices rather than through a democratic election, thus questioning the legitimacy of the entire electoral process.
The video, however, was deleted from Facebook the morning after it was posted.
Prosecutors have maintained that, despite the fact that the video was posted after the riots took place, it remained plausible evidence to probe into Bolsonaro's role in the incitement of the riots. The prosecutors further noted that the video had "the power to incite new acts of civil insurgency."
Moreover, it was stated that the video might lead to Bolsonaro being charged with a "crime of incitement," which is punishable by three to six months in prison or a fine.
De Moraes' decision also included a request for a hearing to look into political communication on platforms, such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
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