Bolsonaro returns jewelry and weapons gifted by foreign governments

Objects will be under the custody of the state bank Caixa Econômica

Published on 24/03/2023 - 17:48 By Karine Melo - Agência Brasil - Brasília

Through his lawyers, former President Jair Bolsonaro handed over this Friday (24) the jewelry and weapons he received as gifts from the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

"Weapons gifted by foreign government to former Brazilian authority were returned, will be examined and safeguarded for subsequent procedures," said via Twitter the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flavio Dino.

Among the returned objects, the pistol and rifle were given to Bolsonaro by representatives of the Arab Emirates in 2019. A watch, a pen, cufflinks, a ring and a kind of rosary, from the Swiss diamond brand Chopard, valued at R$ 500 thousand, were given by the Saudi Arabian government in 2021.

The return was determined last 15th by the president of the Federal Court of Accounts, Judge Bruno Dantas, who recalled that only gifts classified as very personal and low-value items can be incorporated into the private assets of a president.

The court also ruled that a set of jewelry and watch valued at R$ 16.5 million, which would be for former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro and was retained by the Federal Revenue Secretariat at São Paulo International Airport in 2021, be sent to the custody of Caixa Econômica Federal, a state savings bank. The items were in the luggage of the advisor of Bento Albuquerque, then Minister of Mines and Energy.

Translation: Sônia Fernandes -  Edition: Valéria Aguiar

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