It has been revealed that the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia sheltered Jair Bolsonaro for two nights in February while authorities investigated his alleged attempt to stage a coup and overturn the results of the 2022 election.
While many world leaders have turned their backs on the former Brazilian president over the years, the eastern European nation and its head of state, Viktor Orban, have been fervent supporters of him and his ideas.
According to Metropoles, Bolsonaro's two-night stay came four days after federal police seized his passport and arrested numerous people who previously worked for him. International law stipulates that national law enforcement cannot apprehend suspects in foreign embassies.
"I'm not going to deny that I was at the embassy, yes," the former president told the outlet. "I'm not going to say where else I've been. I maintain a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. They are concerned. I talk to them about matters of interest to our country."
He suggested that those who read further into his visit to the embassy, which was caught on security camera footage and first published by the New York Times, were engaging in "speculation."
On January 8, 2023, hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters stormed numerous government buildings in the capital as part of a January 6-esque attempt to prevent the newly-elected president, Lula, from assuming power.
Bolsonaro was in the United States when the demonstrations took place, but has nonetheless been accused of editing a draft decree in an effort to overturn the results, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt, and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice, among other things.
He has repeatedly dismissed the allegations, telling his supporters during a rally they were a politically motivated "lie" being pushed by Lula.
"What is a coup? Tanks in the streets, weapons, conspiracy," Bolsanaro said, per Al Jazeera. "None of that happened in Brazil ... We cannot accept that an authority can eliminate whoever it may be from the political scene, unless it is for a fair reason."
