Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is under investigation after he allegedly “harassed” a humpback whale while riding a personal jet ski off the coast of Sao Paulo.
Bolsonaro appeared at the federal police in Sao Paulo on Tuesday to meet with officers, along with his lawyer and former advisor, who was also present at the time of the alleged incident.
In a video from June last year that circulated on social media, a man is seen riding a personal jet ski near a whale, apparently recording the encounter with a mobile phone.
Federal prosecutors, who are also investigating the case, said the man appeared to be Bolsonaro.
According to Brazilian legislation, motor boats must maintain a minimum distance of 100 meters from whales and other cetaceans. Any intentional attempt to approach can lead to a penalty of up to two to five years in prison and a fine.
The man riding the personal watercraft appeared to be about 50 feet from the animal, prosecutors said last year.
In a June 2023 video that circulated on social media, a man is seen riding a jet ski near a whale, apparently recording the encounter with a mobile phone.
The investigation is just one of many legal headaches facing the former far-right leader. Last week, officials in the capital, Brasilia, questioned Bolsonaro for allegedly plotting a coup in an attempt to remove his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from power.
For Bolsonaro’s broad base of supporters, the case is yet another example that their former leader is being politically persecuted, an argument he has made frequently since leaving office.
It’s just one of the many legal headaches you face.
Since leaving office a year ago, Bolsonaro has been banned from running until 2030, investigated for plotting a coup to remove his successor from power, and stripped of his passport.
Last week, officials in the capital, Brasilia, questioned Bolsonaro for allegedly plotting a coup in an attempt to remove his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from power. Bolsonaro, whose passport was confiscated in a previous police operation, chose to remain silent.
Supreme Court documents show that investigators believe Bolsonaro and some of his aides, including former ministers and senior military advisers, prepared a decree that would have declared the 2022 election vote fraudulent, if Bolsonaro had lost the election to his opponent. from the left, Lula.
The man who follows the humpback whale in the video as it lifts its tail out of the water. Federal prosecutors, who are also investigating the case, said the man appeared to be Bolsonaro.
The man on a jet ski chasing the whale. According to Brazilian legislation, motor boats must maintain a minimum distance of 100 meters from whales and other cetaceans.
The decree also provided for the arrest of a Supreme Court judge and the calling of new elections. Bolsonaro lost, but the decree was never issued and the alleged plan was never put into practice.
Bolsonaro was also declared ineligible to run for office until 2030 by a panel of judges, who concluded that he had abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the country’s electronic voting system.
Last year, Bolsonaro, his wife and his close associates faced questions from investigators in yet another case, after an attempt to smuggle in diamond jewelery reportedly worth $3 million (£2.4 million). ) and the sale of two luxury watches that Bolsonaro received as a gift from Saudi Arabia while he was in office.
Police are also investigating the country’s intelligence agency and alleged spying on Bolsonaro’s political opponents during his term, which ended in December 2022.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.
Legal experts say that if police can prove that Bolsonaro intentionally approached the whale, they risked at most a fine. According to online news site G1, a local politician was found guilty of similar charges and fined 2,500 reais (£397) at the same location.
On Sunday, thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of Sao Paulo after Bolsonaro called for a show of support as he faces accusations that he planned a coup to stay in power.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (pictured) sings the national anthem during a rally in Sao Paulo.
Bolsonaro and some of his top advisers are under investigation over accusations that they planned a coup to oust his successor, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva.
Dressed in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag, which the former president claimed as a symbol during his mandate, an immense crowd of his followers packed Paulista Avenue, one of the main arteries of the country’s economic capital.
Bolsonaro arrived waving the Israeli flag – in rejection of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s comments comparing Israel’s offensive in Gaza to the Holocaust – before raising his hand to his chest to sing the national anthem.
The 68-year-old former army officer had urged his followers to attend a “peaceful demonstration in defense of the democratic rule of law.”
Police have confiscated Bolsonaro’s passport as he and his inner circle face scrutiny over their plans to try to stay in power after he lost the 2022 election to Lula.
The far-right former president has denied the allegations and refused to answer questions during a half-hour interrogation on Thursday last week at federal police headquarters in the city of Brasilia.