FILEE PHOTO: Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro reacts at an event at the Municipal Theatre in Sao Paulo, Brazil March 25, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected former President Jair Bolsonaro's request to have his passport returned so he could travel to the United States to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, a decision seen by Reuters showed.
Bolsonaro, who has been barred from running for office until 2030 and faces criminal charges for allegedly plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat, had his passport retained in February 2024 on the order of Brazil's top court.
The former president denies any wrongdoing. His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Right-wing Bolsonaro, who governed from 2019 to 2022 and has been called "Trump of the Tropics," said last week on X that he had been invited to Trump's inauguration and was seeking to obtain the return of his passport.
Legal experts had previously said that Brazil's courts were unlikely to grant Bolsonaro's request, as there were several ongoing investigations and cases against him that led to the retention of his passport to avoid a potential escape.
In his Thursday decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes wrote that Bolsonaro said in a November 2024 interview that he "considered the possibility of escaping and requesting political asylum to avoid possible criminal liability in Brazil."
Bolsonaro in the interview with local news outlet UOL said that "those who see themselves as persecuted can go to an embassy."
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Editing by Kylie Madry)
