Brazil Cancels Flávio Bolsonaro's Passports After He Misses Deadline to Surrender Them

Police in Brazil say they have cancelled the passports of Flávio Bolsonaro, the defeated right-wing presidential candidate, after he did not comply with an order to surrender them.

The Supreme Court had ruled on Monday that the senator must give his passports to police within 24 hours. The order was part of an investigation into alleged money laundering, which he denies. When the order was issued, Bolsonaro said he had no plans to leave Brazil and insisted he would remain in the country to lead the opposition to his left-wing rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The deadline has since passed without the passports being handed over, which has prompted speculation that he may have left the country. According to a police source who spoke to BBC News Brasil, federal officers are checking border crossings to determine whether he travelled to neighbouring Argentina. Argentine authorities, however, told the BBC they have no record of Bolsonaro entering their territory through any border crossing.

Bolsonaro was already under investigation over alleged corruption linked to the financing of a film about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. The elder Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting a coup and is under house arrest. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court also ordered police to look into Flávio Bolsonaro's electoral campaign over alleged foreign funding.

The 45-year-old senator lost Sunday's presidential run-off to Lula, a result few had predicted. Opinion polls had put Bolsonaro narrowly ahead, and analysts noted that his win in the first round on 4 October made him the likely winner of the second round.

After taking an early lead in the vote count, he was overtaken by the veteran incumbent. Lula became the first presidential candidate to overturn a first round loss and win in the run-off. He took 51.79% of the vote against 48.21% for Bolsonaro, a margin of 4.4 million votes.

Bolsonaro has not conceded and has called for the election to be annulled. He argues that he was put at a disadvantage because voting on election day was extended by two hours, and he described the extension as a "dirty trick". The extension was ordered by a Supreme Court justice, and it was requested by both his own party and Lula's.

His party, the Liberal Party, has accepted the outcome of the election. It did say, however, that the extension of voting "merits investigation".