Brazil’s Supreme Court to hear coercion case against Eduardo Bolsonaro
From November 14 to 25, the First Panel of the Brazilian Supreme Court will decide whether to accept a complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office against Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – São Paulo) for coercion during proceedings. The trial will be conducted virtually.
At this stage, the First Panel will decide whether to open criminal proceedings against the congressman, which would make him a defendant. If that happens, a preliminary hearing will still be required, during which the prosecution and defense may present evidence and question witnesses.
Eduardo Bolsonaro is accused of attempting to pressure the Supreme Court to dismiss the case in which his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced to 27 years and three months for attempting a coup d’état, among other related crimes.
According to the complaint, he has openly promoted a campaign urging the US government to impose sanctions on Brazilian judicial authorities in an attempt to intimidate them into not convicting his father.
Since traveling to the United States in March, claiming political persecution of his family, the congressman has been publicizing meetings with members of President Donald Trump’s administration.
This year, Trump decided to impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian products, citing what he sees as political persecution of Bolsonaro among his reasons. The White House canceled the visas of Supreme Court justices and Attorney General Paulo Gonet.
Defense
In this case, since Eduardo Bolsonaro did not hire a lawyer, Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur of the case, ordered the Federal Public Defender’s Office to represent the congressman.
On Friday (Oct. 31), the Public Defender’s Office requested that the complaint be dismissed, arguing that the congressman is not responsible for the sanctions and that his statements constitute “a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and his parliamentary mandate.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro was charged alongside journalist Paulo Figueiredo, who regularly accompanies him to meetings in Washington. However, the cases took different paths due to difficulties in subpoenaing the blogger, who has lived in the United States for at least ten years.
Last week, Moraes ruled that Figueiredo be summoned by means of a letter rogatory, a more time-consuming procedure that requires several steps involving US diplomatic and judicial authorities.
