A Brazilian judge on Tuesday declared ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest while awaiting the verdict in his coup trial, a “flight risk” and placed him under round-the-clock watch.
Advertisement
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes asked the police to carry out “full-time surveillance” of the former far-right leader, who faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of plotting to cling on to power after losing the 2022 election.
Police said last week they had found a draft letter on Bolsonaro’s phone of a request for asylum from Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei. It was last edited in 2024, police said.
In his draft asylum request, Bolsonaro claimed he was the victim of political persecution.
Bolsonaro’s legal defence said the document was not evidence that the former president was a flight risk.
Advertisement
Brazil said on Tuesday the United States had revoked the US visa of the country’s justice minister Ricardo Lewandowski, the latest official to be punished by Washington over Bolsonaro’s coup trial.
The US State Department has yet to confirm the measure, which was announced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a cabinet meeting.