Brazil police seize Jair Bolsonaro’s passport amid ‘coup’ probe
Al Jazeera
Police seize document and arrest several allies of the former far-right leader in coup attempt investigation.
Police have confiscated former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s passport and accused him of editing a draft decree to overturn election results, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice.
Thursday’s operation included search warrants against four ex-ministers and the arrest of several former aides. Bolsonaro’s inner circle is under investigation for allegedly plotting a military coup after his electoral loss to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2022.
The former leader, a far-right populist often likened to former US President Donald Trump, was at his beach house in Rio de Janeiro state when police arrived early on Thursday morning, demanding the passport.
Brazil’s federal police are now in possession of the document, which was in the capital Brasilia, Bolsonaro family spokesman Fabio Wajngarten said on social media.