Gilmar denies discomfort with Moraes’s decision to arrest Bolsonaro: ‘He has our support’

Minister Gilmar Mendes, from the Supreme Federal Court, stated on Wednesday 6 that there is no discomfort among the members of the Court with the decision of Alexandre de Moraes that determined the house arrest of former president Bolsonaro. ‘No discomfort [among the ministers]. Alexandre de Moraes has all our trust and support,’ he told journalists in Brasilia before attending an event organized by Esfera. During the conversation, Mendes advocated a reaction to the sanctions imposed by the American government on the minister via the Magnitsky Law. ‘Certainly, it would be unacceptable for us, in our commercial aspirations, to accept changes in the understanding of the American Supreme Court. This would be unthinkable. In the same way, this also applies to Brazil,’ he assessed. ‘What is not normal is the attempt to enforce tariffs to obtain institutional changes. That is, to affect the sovereignty of countries. This is clearly reprehensible and clearly not accepted by mature nations, as is the case of Brazil. And the actions imposed on Minister Moraes also make this attempt clear,’ he added. The sanctions against Moraes involve the freezing of assets in the US, such as bank accounts, financial investments, and real estate, for example. According to President Donald Trump, the sanction was applied due to the treatment of the minister in the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro. On Wednesday 6, Moraes once again made changes to the process that angered Trump. This time, he relaxed the initial rules imposed with house arrest, allowing, for example, Bolsonaro to receive visits from his children, brothers-and-sisters-in-law, grandchildren, and nieces without the need for prior communication to the court. Previously, contact was only allowed with lawyers.