Monitoring Desk
BRASILIA: As a leftist icon, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvia was sworn in as Brazil’s president on Sunday; former President Jair Bolsonaro may face court charges after losing presidential immunity.
In an unanticipated return to power after 20 years since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvia last held Brazil’s top job, former President Jair Bolsonaro was reportedly in Florida.
South America’s most populist far-right figure might have escaped the official responsibility to pass the presidential sash to Lula da Silvia during the inauguration — a significant symbol of the peaceful transition of power at the center of Brazil’s democracy.
Still, Lula will hardly be able to avoid everything else that is bound to come with his loss of power, including presidential immunity, Euronews reported.
Brazil’s democracy
Since Bolsonaro is not the president, he does not enjoy the political immunity that protected him from criminal and electoral investigations against him in the past four years.
Bolsonaro, who has been accused of risking democratic rule in Brazil and supporting the devastation of the Amazon forest in the country, is currently under probe in at least four criminal probes.
As long as he was the president, according to Brazilian law, Bolsonaro could only be held if the country’s Supreme Court convicted him after losing the presidency; a trial against him would be launched much quicker by lower courts. These probes could potentially lead to his arrest and prevent him from running for the presidency in the future if found guilty of charges.
The existing investigations against him include allegations he leaned on the federal police to shield his sons, spread famous electoral falsehoods, and promoted the spread of false information from a troll farm in his presidential office.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil leads all four investigations.
Bolsonaro also faces 12 requests for probe at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) for false claims Brazil’s electoral system is liable to fraud and alleged misuse of power for granting economic benefits to win votes.
Bolsonaro could be announced ineligible for elected office if the Superior Electoral Court upholds those accusations. olsonaro has said he has always followed the constitution.
It is unclear whether the threat of any criminal case against Bolsonaro in Brazil has anything to do with his visit to Florida.
