Brazil: Police Recommend Criminal Charges Against Bolsonaro

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Facts

• Brazil's Federal Police have recommended that former Pres. Jair Bolsonaro be criminally charged with money laundering and criminal association over allegedly undeclared gifts he received from Saudi Arabia while in office.¹
• Bolsonaro and others — including his former aide Mauro Cid, and lawyers Fabio Wajngarten and Frederick Wassef — will effectively be indicted only if both the Attorney General's office and the Supreme Court decide to do so.²
• The Saudi gifts, which were valued at $3.2M, included luxury jewelry and watches. Customs officials at São Paulo's International Airport found some of the items in the backpack of a government aide returning from Riyadh in October 2021.³
• Anyone entering Brazil is required to declare goods valued at over $1K and pay a tax equal to half of the exceeding value. While the items could have been added to the presidential collection without paying taxes, authorities claim the Saudi jewels should have been declared.⁴
• Last year, Bolsonaro was summoned twice for questioning and returned the jewelry. He has denied any wrongdoing in this case and multiple other legal cases he currently faces.⁵

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²Folha de S.Paulo, ³Reuters, ⁴Daily Caller and ⁵Associated Press.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. This is great news. Brazilian police wouldn't have pursued this case so far if there wasn't plenty of evidence of wrongdoing. There's a strong chance that Bolsonaro will be held accountable as long as Brazilian authorities continue to pursue justice.
• Right narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. It's obvious Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Lula, a corrupt leftist career politician, is using the judicial system to punish his predecessor. Right-leaning figures across the nation are being censored, and the legal system is increasingly being used as a weapon against opponents.

Predictions