The New York Times reports that Bolsonaro sought asylum in the Hungarian embassy earlier this month. He traveled there after his passport was confiscated by the federal government after several of his top aides were indicted for plotting a coup.
Bolsonaro slept in the Hungarian embassy for two days while rumors swirled that Bolsonaro would be arrested.
Last week, Bolsonaro was indicted for falsifying his COVID-19 vaccine card, a federal crime in Brazil.
In early February, Bolsonaro’s top aides and staff were also arrested after the Brazilian Supreme Court revealed that they attempted to plot a coup.
Questions also surround whether or not Bolsonaro was involved in the assassination of Marielle Franco. Yesterday, the Rio Police Chief Rivalado and two close political allies of Bolsonaro were arrested for plotting to kill her.
Many in Brazil wonder why Bolsonaro failed to investigate the case at a federal level, given the roadblocks at the local level.
Rivaldo’s arrest raised additional questions about the role that Bolsonaro and his allies had played in the assassination of Marielle Franco.
He had been appointed Chief of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police just a day before the assassination by General Walter Braga Neto, who was overseeing the Rio Civil Police as part of federal intervention. Neto previously served as Defense Minister under Bolsonaro and was Bolsonaro’s vice presidential candidate in the 2022 presidential election.
Currently, Neto is under investigation for helping plot a coup with Bolsonaro and is considered Bolsonaro’s right-hand man.
Neto’s appointment of Rivaldo as Civil Police Chief a day before the assassination of Marielle Franco raises serious questions about what role Bolsonaro may have played in the assassination.
Bolsonaro and the gunman Lessa were known to socialize together – they lived in the same apartment complex, and their children had even dated. Several family members of people involved in the conspiracy were also employed by Bolsonaro’s son, Rio City Councilman Carlos Bolsonaro.
