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Law and JusticeBrazil

Brazil: Bolsonaro on trial over electoral fraud claims

June 22, 2023

In 2022, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro held a meeting with foreign diplomats in which he claimed voting machines were susceptible to electoral fraud, which prosecutors argue constituted an abuse of office.

https://p.dw.com/p/4SxKj
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is on trial for voter fraud allegations he made during the 2022 election campaignImage: Mateus Bonomi/AA/picture alliance

Brazil's top electoral court on Thursday began hearing a case against former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The former president is being tried by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on charges of abusing his office and misusing state media by making unproven allegations against the voting system.

What else do we know about the case?

Three months before elections in 2022, Bolsonaro convened foreign diplomats for a meeting in which he claimed electronic voting machines were susceptible to fraud. The meeting was broadcast live on public TV.

Prosecutors argue the event violated electoral law, as it was held during the campaign for the October 2022 elections. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election to left-wing rival President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The case was filed by Brazil's Democratic Labor Party.

In his report on the case, prosecutor Paulo Gonet Branco recommended barring Bolsonaro from public office.

Bolsonaro is also being investigated by the Supreme Court for sharing details on investigations into the former president.

Brazil's next presidential election will be held in 2026.

Can Lula put Brazil back on the world stage?

Bolsonaro not attending trial

Bolsonaro did not attend the trial in Brasilia. He is currently in the southern city of Porto Alegre, where he is scheduled to attend a transportation fair and event of his Liberal Party.

In comments made on his YouTube channel on Thursday, Bolsonaro said that he would be deprived of his "political rights” if barred from office.

"I would like to remain 100% active in politics, and taking away my political rights, which in my opinion is an affront, you lose a little bit of that fuel," he said.

A day earlier, the former president insisted that the broadcast did not constitute an "attack” on the voting system.

"There was no criticism or attack on the electoral system,” Bolsonaro told journalists. "I simply explained how elections work in Brazil."

"Practically everyone's saying I'm going to lose," he told CNN Brasil. But "we want to keep working, stay active, collaborating to build Brazil's future. We have a lot to contribute."

sdi/rs (AFP, AP, Lusa)