Court understands that Eduardo Bolsonaro acted to embarrass Supreme Court judges and interfere in the progress of Justice
This Tuesday, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of Brazil sentenced former federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro for attempting to interfere in the trial of the 2022 coup plot, especially to protect his father, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur of the case in the First Panel of the STF, voted for Eduardo’s conviction and was accompanied by the other three magistrates of the collegiate.
CNN Brasil reports that the penalty imposed is four years and two months in prison. Eduardo Bolsonaro was also sentenced to pay a 50-day fine, with each day of fine equivalent to two minimum wages, something like 560 euros per day, and the penalty will initially be applied in a semi-open regime, which provides for the possibility of the convict leaving.
Moraes followed the understanding of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PGR) of Brazil, which understood that the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro acted to embarrass judges of the Brazilian Supreme Court and interfere in the course of justice.
According to the indictment, Eduardo made public statements and posts on social media in which he claimed to have helped the Donald Trump government of the United States to impose sanctions on Brazilian authorities.
Among these authorities are STF judges, such as Alexandre de Moraes himself, as well as economic measures for Brazil.
When casting his vote, Alexandre de Moraes declared that the Bolsonarista politician, who lost his mandate by decision of the Chamber of Deputies last year due to absences, lobbied in the United States.
“It is not the role of a Brazilian federal deputy to lobby abroad against his own country. Even if he were in office and not licensed, even if he were in office, he would not be covered by parliamentary immunity”, he declared.
As Eduardo Bolsonaro did not appoint a lawyer in this case, his defense is carried out by the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU), which claims, among other points, that Moraes could not act in the trial because he was one of the authorities affected by the sanctions imposed by the USA.
By presenting videos posted by Eduardo on social media, Moraes refuted the DPU’s allegations that Eduardo was not aware of the process.
“The defendant insists on evading justice. The defendant himself says he would not return to Brazil for fear of having this STF take a precautionary measure seizing his passport and not being able to escape again”, argued Moraes.
“The criminal process is not a joke, the application of justice is not a joke. The rules exist to guarantee the contradiction, the broad defense, within the parity of weapons, not so that fraud and crimes committed continue to be perpetuated”, he indicated.
In March 2025, Eduardo announced that he would take a temporary leave of absence from his mandate as a federal deputy to live in the United States and, at the time, he said that his departure from Brazil would be to “dedicate himself fully and seek the appropriate sanctions against human rights violators”.
Alexandre de Moraes also declared that Eduardo’s actions in the USA had “no relation to parliamentary activity, but threats intending that his father would not be convicted”.
Before Moraes cast his vote, the PGR representative called for the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s son for crimes of coercion.
Deputy Attorney General of the Republic Antônio Edílio Magalhães presented several publications and messages exchanged between Eduardo and his father to support the request for conviction.
“The criminal strategy culminated in concrete losses to several productive sectors burdened by North American surcharges, ultimately affecting workers linked to these economic chains, completely unrelated to the criminal proceedings being attacked”, argued the accusation.
