Explained: The many legal woes of Brazil former president Jair Bolsonaro

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is facing accusations of abusing political power and misusing the media. He also risks being banned from running for office for eight years. The latest case against him stems from his attacks on the Brazil’s voting system, which he made in a meeting in July last year.

The former president gathered with ambassadors at the Alvorada presidential palace criticising the countries electronic voting system. Jair Bolsonaro, who goes on trial before Brazil’s top electoral court Thursday for his allegedly baseless claims of fraud in the voting system, faces legal trouble on various fronts.

Here is an overview of the cases against Bolsonaro, who denies wrongdoing.

Supreme Court cases

Bolsonaro faces five Supreme Court investigations that could send him to prison — four for alleged crimes during his 2019-2022 term, and one over accusations he incited a riot by supporters who invaded the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court on 8 January, protesting his election loss.

The first investigation was opened in 2020, when Bolsonaro’s former justice minister Sergio Moro accused him of interfering in federal police investigations to shield family members from corruption charges.

Bolsonaro is also under investigation for two cases of spreading disinformation: one, about COVID-19; the other, about Brazil’s electronic voting system.

In December 2021, Brazil’s Supreme Court opened an investigation into Jair Bolsonaro’s false claims that COVID-19 may raise the risk of contracting AIDS.

He also accused two members of the Supreme court of taking sides in the election and favouring left-wing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in January 2022.

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The final Supreme Court investigation is for leaking classified information about a police investigation of a hacker attack on Brazil’s electoral authority.

If convicted and sentenced to the maximum term, he would face around 40 years in prison.

Saudi jewels

Bolsonaro also faces investigations by federal police, including over allegations he tried to illegally import and keep an estimated $3.2 million (Rs 26.26 crore) in diamond jewellery given as a gift to first lady Michelle Bolsonaro by Saudi Arabia in 2021.

Brazilian law bars public officials from keeping expensive gifts.

The scandal broke in February, when newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported customs officials had seized a set of jewels from a government aide who tried to bring them into the country undeclared in his backpack in 2021.

It later emerged Bolsonaro had kept another set of jewels that made it through customs undetected.

Both sets came from Swiss luxury house Chopard.

Bolsonaro has since handed them over to the authorities. Police questioned him over the case in April.

Fake vaccination certificate

Bolsonaro also faced questioning by federal police in May over accusations an aide faked a COVID-19 immunisation certificate for him and other high-ranking administration officials. False vaccine certificates are said to have issued for Bolsonaro, his 12-year-old daughter, Laura, and other top officials in his administration.

Police raided Bolsonaro’s home in Brasilia and seized his cell phone as part of their investigation.

The former president, who defied expert advice on managing COVID-19, has repeatedly questioned the vaccines and said he was not vaccinated himself.

During a three-hour testimony, the right-wing former leader denied any involvement in what police have described as a plot to produce fake COVID-19 vaccination documents for international travel.

With inputs from AFP

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