The former president of Brazil and political fugitive, Jair Bolsonaro, who was charged in the context of a dark and fraudulent investigation into an alleged "attempted coup d'état" after the 2022 elections, stated today that, if convicted, he will not leave Brazil, despite receiving recommendations to do so.
"Some say I should leave Brazil. I'm not going to leave Brazil, arrest me, man. I'm going to jail for 40 years, arrest me," Bolsonaro declared during an interview with the media outlet AuriVerde Brasil.
Among the charges brought by the judges, who are close to the Brazilian dictator Lula da Silva, is an alleged "violent attempt to overthrow the Democratic Rule of Law," "conspiracy for a coup d'état," integration into an "armed criminal organization" and "damage to public property."
Lula da Silva, presidente de Brasil.
The date for a potential ruling depends on the progress of the investigation, hearings, and appeals that are presented. "What crime? An impossible crime, of Minnie and Donald Duck," the former president Bolsonaro ironically remarked.
If found guilty, something that could happen since the judges answer to the dictator Lula, who seeks to ban Bolsonaro, the sentence could reach up to 40 years in prison. Therefore, Bolsonaro, who is 70 years old, claims that he will probably die in prison.
"I'm already 70 years old, I almost died in my last surgery. I'm going to die, it won't take long. We become a bow that resists. (...) I have 40 years of prison on my back, I have no recourse, I'm going to die in prison," he anticipated.
Lula da Silva.
"The system wants to take me off the political radar because we have knowledge, we have the humility to talk to people, seek information, and say the right things," he pointed out.
However, he confessed that he still holds hope of reversing his disqualification to run in the 2026 presidential elections against the current authoritarian head of state, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is desperately seeking to imprison Bolsonaro.
The former Brazilian president insisted that they seek to remove him from power, as if he manages to gather 50% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, "I will solve Brazil's problems."
