Flávio Bolsonaro Says He Has No Regrets and Alleges Political Persecution

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro said in a statement posted Sunday, Nov. 1, that he does not regret “anything” he has done. He criticized recent court actions against him and defended his presence abroad, saying he had not left Brazil but had gone “for Brazil.”

Bolsonaro said several news organizations had contacted him during the week, including Globo, which invited him to give an exclusive interview. He said he agreed on the condition that it be broadcast in full, without edits or excluded topics, but that the network chose not to proceed. He also predicted that Globo’s Sunday program Fantástico would air a lengthy report about him without giving him a chance to respond. He accused Brazil’s largest media group of being afraid and said it had no moral standing to judge him or damage his reputation.

In the statement, Bolsonaro described the legal measures against him as politically motivated. He said a court order imposing precautionary measures came seven minutes after election results were announced and was based on lies. He also said he was notified of what he called the start of a campaign of persecution 12 hours later, while on the street after leaving the home of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Flávio Bolsonaro said the notification came as his father watched, describing him as a tearful, medically vulnerable parent. He claimed Jair Bolsonaro had been sentenced to more than 27 years in prison despite committing no crime, and said his father had also been separated for more than a year and a half from another son because of what Flávio called illegal and arbitrary persecution. Flávio said the situation was not democratic and did not amount to a fair and impartial judicial process.

The senator also referred to a Federal Police summons after Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered him to hand over his passports. He said he was now in a country where he could express his views freely and would not face a judge who, he alleged, had sent police to search his home and his daughters’ belongings. Bolsonaro said he had run for president while confronting a system that, in his view, benefits its own members while making life worse for the public.

Bolsonaro said he planned to speak with major Brazilian and international news organizations in the coming days, without edits or filters. He also cited a 2016 statement attributed to Cristiano Zanin, saying Brazil had no effective remedy to stop human rights violations. Flávio Bolsonaro has been in the United States since Oct. 28, after losing the presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He said he intended to share views that, in his words, people could no longer express while in Brazil.