Brazil Judge Drops Case On Bolsonaro Stay In Hungarian Embassy

A Brazilian Supreme Court judge dismissed a case against former president Jair Bolsonaro over his two-day stay at the Hungarian embassy, ruling there was no hard evidence he was trying to evade prosecution.

Bolsonaro came under scrutiny when it emerged he had stayed at the embassy in February, days after police confiscated his passport as part of their investigation into allegations the far-right ex-president took part in a coup attempt aimed at keeping him in power despite his 2022 election loss.

"There is no concrete evidence effectively indicating that the accused intended to seek diplomatic asylum to flee the country and escape criminal investigation," Judge Alexandre de Moraes wrote in his ruling, dated Wednesday.

The former president and members of his inner circle face accusations of plotting to discredit Brazil's election system and cling to power in the months around the October 2022 vote, which culminated with Bolsonaro supporters storming the halls of power a week after leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's swearing-in.

Police say Bolsonaro edited a draft decree that would have declared a state of emergency, called new elections and ordered the arrest of Moraes, who is the lead judge on multiple investigations targeting the ex-president.

On February 8, police carried out raids targeting Bolsonaro and his inner circle, arresting three people and confiscating the former president's passport.

In March, The New York Times revealed that Bolsonaro had stayed at the Hungarian embassy from February 12 to 14, leading to a separate investigation on accusations of attempting to flee the justice system.

Bolsonaro denies all the accusations and says he is the victim of political persecution.

His lawyers said the embassy stay was about maintaining friendly ties with Hungary and his "good relationship" with far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban.