MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro sees himself jailed after leaving office, “like Áñez”

Justice “Alexandre de Moraes makes an investigation in which the Prosecutor's Office does not participate,” Bolsonaro highlighted

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said from Orlando in the United States that he feared he might end up like former Bolivia's Jeanine Áñez when he leaves office.

After having promised US President Joseph Biden that he would accept the outcome of this year's elections, which opposition candidate Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva is poised to win according to all polls, Bolsonaro's statements this weekend mean first and foremost that the idea of being defeated had sunk into his mind.

Áñez's “party lost; Evo Morales' party is back. What happened a year ago? She was preventively arrested. And now ten years in jail have been confirmed for her. What are the charges? Anti-democratic acts. Do you see the relationship with Alexandre de Moraes and the investigations for anti-democratic acts? Is he a threat to me when I leave the government?” Bolsonaro wondered in an interview with journalists outside a restaurant in Orlando, where he participated in a motorcycle caravan with his supporters.

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes is leading an investigation against Bolsonaro “for allegedly spreading falsehoods about the integrity of Brazil's electronic voting system and engaging in anti-democratic acts.”

In the interview, Bolsonaro also called STF Justice Luís Roberto Barroso a “liar.” Barroso had pointed out that Bolsonaro had revealed data from a confidential investigation. The head of state claims that as President he was not bound by any restrictions.

The STF had also sentenced a Bolsonarist Congressman to nine years in jail for “continuously attacking democratic institutions,” after which a Presidential pardon was immediately issued.

”Alexandre de Moraes makes an investigation in which the Prosecutor's Office does not participate and investigates me for false news (...). What's in this guy's head? What is he getting out of it? What are his interests?“ Bolsonaro was quoted as saying by CNN.

The President also questioned Brazil's electoral law and lashed out against opposition leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom he accused of corruption, according to Europa Press, and insisted on the ”risk of fraud“ if the Army cannot participate ”more actively” in the counting of votes in the Oct. 2 elections.

While in Orlando, Bolsonaro opened a Brazilian vice-consulate and met with supporters at an evangelical church.