Former President Jair Bolsonaro returns to Brazil on Thursday March 30, after three months in the United States since the end of his mandate. But the far-right figure is in the crosshairs of justice in several investigations, suspected in particular of illegal appropriation of public property or tax evasion, in addition to four other cases relating to events during his term as president. If given the maximum sentences, he could spend more than 40 years in prison.
Jair Bolsonaro is the target of five Supreme Court investigations. Four of them relate to alleged offenses committed during his tenure. He is accused of interfering with the federal police, to protect relatives suspected of corruption. The former president is under investigation for disinformation – about the electronic voting system and the Covid-19.
The fifth survey concerns suspicions of incitement from his supporters to take part in the January 8 coup attempt in Brasilia.
And now that he is no longer president and therefore no longer has presidential immunity, all these cases can be handled by the courts of first instance, with generally shorter procedures.
The ex-president is also under 16 investigations by the Superior Electoral Court, in particular for his repeated verbal attacks against electronic voting. Other complaints denounce the use of the state apparatus for electoral purposes.
But the most advanced investigation concerns the scandal that is making headlines in the Brazilian press, called ” the saudi jewels »for which justice summoned him to appear: Jair Bolsonaro would have illegally brought into the country jewelry offered by Saudi Arabia during a visit to the kingdom in 2021. The alert was given when Brazilian customs seized a set of diamonds from a minister’s backpack, valued at three million euros, intended for his wife.
Two other lots of jewelry are concerned, the ex-president having returned one.
Jair Bolsonaro initially defended himself from any tax evasion, saying that they were gifts intended for the Brazilian state. If he manages to prove his line of defense and escape tax evasion, he could be prosecuted for illegal appropriation of public property, according to the Ministry of Justice.
