Brazil’s embattled former president Jair Bolsonaro spent two nights “hiding” at the Hungarian embassy in BrasÃlia last month as federal police investigators closed in on some of his closest allies, the New York Times has claimed.
Security footage obtained by the US newspaper appeared to show that in early February – four days after two Bolsonaro aides were arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the Brazilian government – the rightwing populist took shelter in the embassy, a short drive from the presidential palace Bolsonaro once occupied.
As the story broke today, Mr. Bolsonaro did not deny that he did in fact spend time in the Hungarian embassy. “I have a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. They’re concerned. I talk to them about matters of interest for our country. Period. Everything else is speculation,” he told the news website Metrópoles.
The Federal Police have announced that it will investigate Mr. Bolsonaro’s stay at the Hungarian embassy. If the authorities understand it as an attempt to flee from justice, there could be grounds to keep the former president in custody.
The New York Times said Bolsonaro’s embassy stay suggested he was “seeking to leverage his friendship with a fellow far-right leader, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary, into an attempt to evade the Brazilian justice system as he faces criminal investigations at home”.
On Monday Bolsonaro confirmed the report, telling the Brazilian website Metrópoles: “I won’t deny that I was in the embassy … I won’t say where else I’ve been. I have a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. They are worried. I talk to them about matters in our country’s interest. Full stop. The rest is speculation,” he was quoted as saying
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