Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously convicted former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro on Tuesday of coercing magistrates and orchestrating sanctions with the United States government against the country's judiciary.
The First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) voted to find Bolsonaro guilty of coercion during legal proceedings. Justices Cristiano Zanin, Cármen Lúcia, and Flávio Dino followed the vote of rapporteur Alexandre de Moraes in sentencing the former deputy on the charge of coercion in the course of proceedings.
Bolsonaro faced accusations of attempting to interfere in the legal process surrounding an alleged coup plot that resulted in the conviction of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. The Office of the Attorney General accused Eduardo of working to arrange sanctions against Brazilian authorities, including export tariffs announced last year, suspension of visas for members of the STF and current government officials, and application of the Magnitsky Act against Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The Magnitsky Act provision would impose financial restrictions including cancellation of bank accounts and prohibition of using credit cards from American companies.
According to prosecutors, these actions constituted an effort to pressure and intimidate the Court ahead of the judgment in the coup plot case.
In his vote, de Moraes stated that it is not the function of a parliamentarian to "lobby against one's own country." The rapporteur defended that the panel should dismiss allegations of bias in conducting the proceedings, noting that the collegial body had rejected such claims when it placed the former deputy in the defendant's seat.
De Moraes distinguished the crime under discussion—coercion in the course of proceedings—from the separate crime of threatening a specific judge. He emphasized that in Eduardo's case, no such threat charge was being discussed, stating there was no "confusion between victim and judge."
The trial occurred amid ongoing legal proceedings against members of the Bolsonaro family stemming from the alleged coup attempt that took place shortly before Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva assumed the presidency.