(Brasilia) Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a complaint against current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, demanding an apology and compensation for suggesting that he took furniture from the presidential residence when leaving power, his lawyer announced on Saturday.
A request for “moral damages” was filed jointly by the former president and his wife Michelle before a court in the Brazilian capital, according to the document sent to AFP by lawyer Fábio Wajngarten.
On Wednesday, the Brazilian government indicated that “261 objects” from the presidential palace were missing in January 2023, the date President Lula took office.
PHOTO UESLEI MARCELINO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
When he moved into the presidential residence in Brasilia, Lula complained that furniture was missing.
“If they were his (Bolsonaro), he had a reason to take them, but these are public things. I don’t know why he had to take the bed,” he said at the time.
The former presidential couple asked Lula to “retract in the same proportion of the damage he caused”. He also requested damages of 20,000 reais (around $4,000) to be paid to an NGO.
The Bolsonaros lived in the Alvorada Palace from 2019 to 2022.