The Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) asked minister Alexandre de Moraes this Friday, 12th, to postpone the trial of the criminal action against Eduardo Bolsonaro that investigates coercion in the coup plot process, scheduled for Tuesday, 16th. The body claims that the First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) has been incomplete for eight months and that this could compromise the outcome of the trial.
The vacancy has existed since the retirement of minister Luís Roberto Barroso, in October 2025, and has not yet been filled. Without a fifth member, the DPU points out two problematic scenarios: if the Panel judges with four ministers, a score of 2 to 2 would halt the decision and generate future procedural problems; If the impediment of rapporteur Alexandre de Moraes is recognized – thesis raised by the defense in the final arguments – the collegiate would deliberate with just three votes.
To avoid the outcome, the Defender’s Office invokes article 41 of the STF’s Internal Regulations, which determines the summoning of a minister from the Second Panel to complete the quorum. The body also requests that, if Moraes rejects the request monocratically, the issue be taken to the board as a point of order at the beginning of Tuesday’s session.
The case against Eduardo Bolsonaro is based on a complaint from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), according to which Eduardo acted in the United States to seek sanctions against Brazilian authorities.
The STF will judge whether the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro articulated the Donald Trump government’s 2025 tariff, in addition to the suspension of ministers’ visas and the application of the Magnitsky Law.
According to the PGR, Eduardo’s objective, at the time, was to pressure the STF on the eve of the trial that sentenced Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for an attempted coup d’état.
Barroso’s position has been open for almost eight months due to political interference by the Senate in the nomination of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). The PT member nominated Jorge Messias, the Union’s attorney general, to occupy the seat on the STF. Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP) acted to block the name chosen by Palácio do Planalto.
Messias spent five months waiting for the president of the Senate to take his name to the plenary and was rejected by 42 votes. Two weeks before the vote, according to information from the newspaper “O Globo”, Alcolumbre sought out President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and asked for protection in the investigations into the Master case. The rejection, therefore, would have been a retaliation against the government.
