The US government announced on Wednesday (30) the application of lei magnist against the minister Alexandre de Moraesdo Supremo Tribunal Federal. The law is used to punish foreigners accused of serious human rights violations.
The information that the measure would be applied on Wednesday (30) was anticipated by Lourival Sant’AnnaInternational Analyst of CNN.
In justification for law enforcement, the US government quoted them and said the magistrate authorized arbitrary preventive arrests and suppressed.
Lawyer and Professor Ronaldo Lemos explains that individuals designated under the SDN list (Specially Designated Nationals or “specially designated citizens”) and have their assets blocked according to the regulation that establishes the procedures for the application of economic sanctions to individuals.
See below questions and answers and what should happen, in practice, with the routine of Minister Alexandre de Moraes:
How are the bank accounts of Alexandre de Moraes?
Bank accounts maintained by sanctioned people are automatically blocked if they are under control of US institutions or with US operations, as practically.
“The block prevents any debit or unauthorized credit. For accounts outside the US will depend on the level of enchantment (actions to comply with rules) that will be given to the law, in order to penalize Brazilian banks that do operations with the US,” explains Ronaldo Lemos.
Can Alexandre de Moraes use credit card?
Prohibits US financial institutions from providing or maintaining any credit service, including credit and debit cards. This covers Visa, Mastercard and American Express – whether with emission directly in the United States or via intermediates.
However, they may also have an effect on national territory, as explained by the lawyer specializing in international economic law Emanuel Pessoa.
“In the case of credit cards, even if the issuance is done by Brazilian banks, in a process called ‘clearing’, processing and authorizations are the infrastructure of credit card operators. However, even non -American financial structures tend to join and sanction the minister for fear of US secondary sanctions.”
Can Alexandre de Moraes have accounts on Instagram or Bluesky?
Although the law is considered more financial than anything else, free services, such as social networks, can also be affected.
That is, it is not yet possible to say whether the STF minister will lose his accounts on social networks based in the United States, with American owners – and offer their services for free.
“Each company, in theory, can react differently regarding this case, but it is possible for these companies to exclude their records due to the presence on the list. Due to the alignment of big techs with the Trump administration, it is quite possible to happen,” explains Marcelo Crespo, a lawyer in digital law.
However, there are cases where sanctions of the type have already been applied to foreigners affected by law.
“In December 2017, Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov was included in the list of sanctions related to Magnitsky Law. Facebook and Instagram disabled Kadyrov’s profiles, stating that they had ‘legal obligation’ to do so, ‘says Vitélio Brustolin, UFF international relations professor and Harvard researcher.
On the other hand, the teacher adds “individuals like Nicolás Maduro, Dmitry Rogozin or Dan Gertler, although sanctioned, did not have their accounts blocked by Facebook.”
Can Alexandre de Moraes use mobile phones like iPhone or Google’s Android operating system?
Probably not. “At first, the law prohibits that it has any financial bond with any citizen of the states. For example, social networks, almost all of them, have a headquarters or owners in the United States. The same logic applies to services such as Paypal, Amazon, Airbnb, Uber, Booking, Apple, Google Pay. It is the so -called Over Compliance,” says Vitelio Brustolin, UFF teacher and Harvard Researcher.
Can Alexandre de Moraes fly through American airlines? And Brazilian?
In the understanding of some experts, even the sale of tickets to the minister can be framed by the law.
“If an airline has significant US operations, it will not be able to transport the minister, under penalty of heavy sanctions. Thus, he could not fly from Latam, Gol or Azul. By the rule of magnitsky, any company that has a relevant commercial connection with the US should deny services to him,” Detail Emanuel Pessoa.
*With information from Mariana Catacci and Tiago Tortella, from CNN
