Former President Bolsonaro ordered to pay damages for racist comments

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro arrives at a hospital for medical examinations, authorized by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, leaving the house arrest as he awaits trial after being accused of plotting a coup following his electoral defeat, in Brasilia, Brazil, August 16, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -A Brazilian Federal Court on Tuesday ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to pay 1 million reais ($188,865)in damages for collective moral harm stemming from racist comments he made while in office.

The inquiry originated from Bolsonaro's statements to a Black supporter who approached him in May 2021 and asked to take a picture. The former president joked, saying he was seeing a cockroach in the man's hair. He also compared the style to a "cockroach breeding ground," implying the hair was unclean.