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Flavio Bolsonaro's whereabouts unclear amid reports Brazil's Senator fled to the US after loss to Lula
Flávio Bolsonaro faces mounting legal pressure after refusing to concede defeat, while authorities remain uncertain about his whereabouts.
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Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro missed a court-imposed deadline on Tuesday to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports. Authorities are yet to confirm if Bolsonaro complied with the order issued by Brazil’s Supreme Court.
In a social media video posted on Monday afternoon, Bolsonaro made his last public statement, stating that he had been ordered to turn in his passports and was prohibited from leaving the country.
The deadline for the passport submission expired at noon Tuesday, a day after Bolsonaro was formally served with the sealed order. The Supreme Court directive was issued on Sunday following his defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s presidential election.
Bolsonaro, 45, has since refused to concede and continues to allege election fraud without presenting public evidence.
Bolsonaro's location was unknown on Tuesday, and an AP request for comment from a representative was not answered. Furthermore, it's unclear if Bolsonaro's passports were surrendered.
Also read: Flavio Bolsonaro has not fled Brazil via Argentina, authorities say as Senator battles travel ban
Bolsonaro challenged election results amid growing pressure
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bolsonaro said he received the court order outside the residence where his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year prison sentence under house arrest after being convicted over his role in an attempted coup following the 2022 election.
Soon after polls closed, Bolsonaro called for the election to be annulled following disruptions at several polling stations. These disruptions led the electoral authorities to extend voting by two hours. On Monday, Bolsonaro filed another request urging Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to investigate alleged fraud and invalidate the candidacies of Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin.
Before the results are declared on December 18, Bolsonaro would need to persuade the eight-member electoral court with proof of fraud impacting Lula's 4.4 million-vote edge in order to reverse the outcome.
Official results showed Lula receiving more than 64 million votes, while Bolsonaro secured fewer than 60 million.
In the video published on social media on Monday, Bolsonaro said he had no intention of leaving Brazil. Instead, he said he planned to organise opposition within Congress against the election result. His eight-year Senate term ends on Jan. 31, 2027, after which he will lose the special legal jurisdiction currently afforded to lawmakers before Brazil’s Supreme Court.
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Senator faces multiple Supreme Court investigations
Bolsonaro’s election challenge comes as he remains under investigation in two separate Supreme Court cases involving alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.
According to prosecutors, one investigation centres on allegations that a sports betting company was used to launder fraudulent deductions from government pension payments to senior citizens. Another case alleges Bolsonaro accepted millions of dollars from a disgraced banker. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in both investigations.
Court documents cited by prosecutors also alleged that money from the banker helped cover expenses incurred by Bolsonaro’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Speculation over Bolsonaro’s location spread across Brazilian social media on Tuesday after he failed to appear at his residence. Argentine security officials also denied reports that he had entered Argentina. Several Brazilian media outlets reported that Bolsonaro allies had struggled to contact him.
Paulo Figueiredo, a close Bolsonaro ally based in the United States, declined to disclose the senator’s whereabouts when approached by reporters.
“At this moment — following months of intense work that were unfairly thwarted — I have no desire to speak with the press,” Figueiredo said in a statement carried by the Associated Press.
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