Top court orders Bolsonaro to hand over passport
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is one of the targets of operation Tempus Veritatis, launched Thursday (Feb. 8) by the Federal Police to investigate the existence of an alleged criminal organization believed to have attempted a coup d’état.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the federal agents to seize Bolsonaro’s passport as part of the crackdown. Arrest orders also target direct advisers to the former president, including military personnel.
The operation was launched after Bolsonaro’s former aide Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid signed a plea bargain with federal investigators. The agreement was sent to the Prosecutor-General’s Office and has been ratified by the Supreme Court.
This Thursday, 33 search and seizure warrants and four preventive arrest orders are being carried out. In all, 48 precautionary measures have been ordered by Justice Moraes, among them banning those being investigated from maintaining contact or leaving Brazil. The deadline for handing over passports is 24 hours.
The judicial measures are being carried out in 10 states. The Brazilian Army is monitoring the execution of some of the warrants.
“The investigations indicate that the group was divided into nuclei to disseminate fraud in the 2022 presidential elections, even before they were held, in order to enable and legitimize a military intervention, in a digital militia dynamic,” the police reported.
Defense
On X, lawyer Fabio Wajngarten, Bolsonaro’s counsel, wrote that “in compliance with today’s rulings,” the former president will hand over his passport to the authorities.
