After Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ refusal last Thursday (Jan. 16), former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defense filed an appeal against the ruling that prevented him from traveling to the US for President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Justice Moraes once again responded in the negative.
“I uphold the decision to reject the requests made by Jair Messias Bolsonaro on its own grounds,” the justice said in his decision, released Friday (17).
In the appeal, the ex-president’s lawyers request the return of his passport, seized in February 2024, claiming that the travel request is a one-off, and not a request to revoke the decision that withheld the document. But the Supreme Court justice’s position on the case remained unchanged.
Justice Moraes had already considered, in the Thursday (16) decision, that the former president’s recent behavior indicates the possibility of an attempt to flee Brazil to avoid possible punishment.
Bolsonaro wanted to travel to the US from January 17 to 22. He and his son, federal representative Eduardo Bolsonaro, claim there was a formal invitation to the former president, sent by email. But the email, according to Moraes, was to an “unidentified address” and without any timetable or schedule of the event to be held. Even without proof of an official invitation, the justice examined the request for the return of the passport and denied it. The onetime president’s document has been seized since February 2024.
