Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, opened a 15-day period for the Attorney General’s Office and the defense of former deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro to present their final arguments in the case that could lead to the conviction of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s son for coercion during the process.
With the decision, the last phase of Eduardo’s process was opened, that of final arguments. Afterwards, it will be up to the minister to release the case for trial and then a date can be set for the case to be discussed by the STF. There is no deadline for this to happen.
Last week, the former deputy missed the interrogation of the action. With this, he gave up, for the second time, the opportunity to defend himself in the process. At the hearing, the possibility was opened for the defense and the PGR to request additional steps, but no requests were made to Moraes.
The former deputy is accused of articulating sanctions against Brazilian authorities — including export tariffs, visa suspensions and even the application of the Magnitsky Law — in an effort to pressure and intimidate the STF on the eve of the trial that convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro of an attempted coup d’état.
It was in this process that, in February, Moraes ordered the summons by notice of the former deputy, because he was, “temporarily, outside the national territory”. Eduardo Bolsonaro, however, did not present a prior defense nor appointed lawyers to represent him. For this reason, the Federal Public Defender’s Office began defending the former parliamentarian.
