MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro worried about prison time if not reelected

Bolsonaro reportedly told his inner circle that he would not like to be arrested like his predecessors Lula and Michel Temer.

“I shoot to kill nobody takes me, prisoner, I prefer to die,” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was quoted as saying when confronted with the possibility that criminal charges against him would proceed if he is not reelected in October and loses his immunity.

According to press reports published Tuesday, the head of state is “restless and upset” about such a possibility, Folha de Sao Paulo printed.

Bolsonaro is certain that he “will be the target of investigations to take him to prison in case he loses the elections,” Folha said citing unnamed sources, two of whom were said to be cabinet members.

The President's words are consistent with his message Sept. 7 last, when he threatened not to abide by orders of the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

The hypothesis of ending up behind bars “would be leaving the president increasingly restless and according to some interlocutors, unhinged,” Folha's article points out.

In the last Datafolha survey, Bolsonaro would lose in the first round to former President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva by 47% of the votes against his 29%.

According to Folha, President Bolsonaro also “believes that his children can also become easy targets of investigations” in case he is not reelected.

Despite this scenario, the head of state insisted that “no one wants to stage a coup,” despite his fears of the electronic voting system's reliability.

”Nobody wants a coup, nobody wants it, (some say) that there will be no elections. We want transparency,” Bolsonaro stressed in a radio interview, during which he defended the participation of the Armed Forces in the vote count.

Last month Bolsonaro said Superior Electoral Court (TSE) Chief Justice Edson Fachin was involved in a plot to guarantee Lula's victory through fraud.

If no candidate obtains more than 50% of the votes in the first round, there will be a runoff Oct. 30, when, according to Datafolha, Lula would win with 55% of the votes against Bolsonaro's 35%.

Supreme Federal Court (STF) Chief Justice Luiz Fux has stressed Brazil's electoral system was “one of the most reliable in the world” and asked that ”the (presidential) candidates respect their adversaries.“

”With all due respect to Fux, I say that he is wrong or (he said) fake news (when talking about the electoral system), he should be investigated in the case (of judge) Alexandre de Moraes“ that deals with false information, Bolsonaro said.

Bolsonaro also attacked STF Justice Roberto Barroso, a staunch defender of electronic voting. ”Barroso is a criminal” because he opposed the restoration of paper voting when the issue was debated in the House of Deputies in 2021, Bolsonaro argued.

He then charged against STF/TSE Justice Alexandre De Moraes, who is also in favor of electronic voting and is due to take over as TSE Chief Justice before the elections.

Bolsonaro reportedly told his inner circle that he would not like to be arrested like his predecessors Lula and Michel Temer.