Bolsonaro surrenders passport amid Brazil's investigation into 2022 election interference

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was forced to surrender his passport in his home country amid a massive criminal investigation into attempts to overturn the result of the 2022 election.

Brazilian police arrested four individuals Thursday morning and executed 33 warrants against suspects who allegedly engaged in election interference by raising doubts about the country’s electronic voting system in what authorities say was an attempt to overturn the election results.

Bolsonaro lost by a slim margin to his former rival, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The former Brazilian president was not arrested but was ordered to turn over his passport and contact others who are named subjects of the ongoing investigation, according to a statement published by his spokesman, Fabio Wajngarten.

Lula’s has alleged that Bolsanaro supporters attempted a “coup d’état, with the support of military personnel with the knowledge and tactics of special forces,” the police said in a statement.

The new police raids are a step up in the government’s attempts to identify participants in last year’s Jan. 8 riots, when Bolsonaro supporters stormed the presidential palace, courts and its congress, suggesting the left manipulated the vote results.