STF Has Majority to Make Eduardo Bolsonaro Defendant for Trying to Coerce STF on Father’s Trial

Eduardo is accused of trying to interfere, outside the country, in the trial of a case involving his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. According to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), this constitutes the crime of coercion in the course of the process. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for leading a criminal organization aimed at keeping him in power, despite his defeat in the 2022 elections. It is in this case that Eduardo allegedly attempted to interfere, hindering the progress of the criminal action through international pressure.

The ministers Alexandre de Moraes (rapporteur), Flávio Dino, and Cristiano Zanin voted in favor of receiving the charge. The trial is being held in the STF’s virtual plenary, where justices record votes electronically. The analysis goes on until November 25, unless a request for an extension (more time for analysis) or a feature (which takes the case to an in-person session) occurs. At this stage, the First Chamber ministers decided to accept the charge, initiating a criminal action against Eduardo Bolsonaro.

According to Minister Moraes, Eduardo Bolsonaro ‘insisted on the strategy of seriously threatening Supreme Court justices, even announcing the possible application of sanctions to the other ministers of the First Chamber, the collegiate body competent to judge the case, to favor his father, Jair Messias Bolsonaro.’ Moraes explains that this serious threat against the Supreme Court justices materialized through ‘the articulation and obtaining of sanctions by the United States government.’ The Trump administration announced a 50% surtax on Brazilian products in the US, alleging unjust treatment of Bolsonaro.

Moraes, his wife Viviane de Moraes, and other STF ministers, as well as the solicitor general of the Union, Jorge Messias, had their visas canceled under the Magnitsky Act, an American mechanism imposing economic sanctions on foreigners. The PGR concluded that Eduardo Bolsonaro and Paulo Figueiredo committed the crime of coercion in the course of the process, aiming to prevent convictions in the coup case.