RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is beneath investigation for having allegedly “harassed” a humpback whale whereas using a private watercraft off Sao Paulo’s coast final yr.
Bolsonaro appeared on the federal police in Sao Paulo on Tuesday to fulfill with officers, alongside together with his lawyer and former adviser who was additionally current on the time of the alleged incident.
The investigation is simply one of many many authorized complications the previous far-right chief is dealing with. Since leaving workplace a yr in the past, Bolsonaro has been banned from operating for workplace till 2030, investigated for plotting a coup to take away his successor from energy and stripped of his passport.
In a June 2023 video that circulated on social media, a person is seen using a private watercraft near a whale, seemingly recording the encounter with a cellphone. Federal prosecutors, who’re additionally investigating the case, mentioned the person seemed to be Bolsonaro.
Under Brazilian laws, motored vessels should hold a minimal distance of 100 meters from whales and different cetaceans. Any intentional try to get nearer can result in a sentence of as much as two to 5 years in jail and a positive.
The man on the non-public watercraft appeared to be about 15 meters from the animal, prosecutors mentioned final yr.
For Bolsonaro’s giant base, the case is yet one more instance that their former chief is being politically persecuted — an argument he has typically made since leaving workplace.
Last week, officers within the capital, Brasilia, questioned Bolsonaro for allegedly plotting a coup, in an try to take away his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from energy. Bolsonaro, whose passport was seized in a earlier police operation, selected to stay silent.
Supreme Court paperwork present that investigators imagine that Bolsonaro and a few of his aides, together with former ministers and prime army advisers, ready a decree that may have declared the 2022 election vote fraudulent, had Bolsonaro misplaced the election to his leftist opponent, Lula.
The decree additionally deliberate for the arrest of a Supreme Court justice and the convening of a brand new election. Bolsonaro misplaced, however the decree was by no means issued, and the alleged plan was by no means set into motion.
Bolsonaro was additionally dominated ineligible to run for workplace till 2030 by a panel of judges, who concluded that he had abused his energy and solid unfounded doubts on the nation’s digital voting system.
Last yr, Bolsonaro, his spouse and shut aides needed to face investigators’ questions in yet one more case, after an try to sneak in diamond jewellery reportedly price $3 million and the sale of two luxurious watches Bolsonaro obtained as items from Saudi Arabia whereas in workplace.
Police are additionally investigating the nation’s intelligence company and alleged spying on Bolsonaro’s political opponents throughout his time period, which resulted in December 2022.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.
Legal consultants say that if police can show that Bolsonaro deliberately approached the whale, he risked a positive at most. According to on-line information web site G1, an area politician discovered responsible on related fees and in the identical location was fined 2,500 reais (simply over $500).