Flavio Bolsonaro said a Supreme Court justice ordered him to hand over his passports and banned him from leaving Brazil a day after he lost the election.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil): Flavio Bolsonaro on Monday said a Supreme Court justice had banned him from leaving Brazil, one day after he lost the country’s presidential election and refused to concede defeat.
The right-wing senator received 48.2 percent of the vote compared to 51.8 percent for incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“I was served with an order to hand over my passports and I am also banned from leaving the country,” he said in a video posted to Instagram.
Bolsonaro, the son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro, denounced “a clear attempt to intimidate me.”
The senator is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering during the financing of a biopic about his father. He denies any wrongdoing.
The 45-year-old said the decision to seize his passport stems from a statement made by his brother, US-based former lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, that Flavio would have to leave Brazil if he lost the election.
“I never said that,” the defeated candidate insisted in the Instagram video.
Bolsonaro reiterated that he would seek to annul the election, arguing that an extension of voting hours on Sunday favored Lula, despite having also requested the measure.
He also promised to lead the resistance to Lula’s government, however.
“To withstand the chaos, I’m going to organize the opposition,” Bolsonaro said.