Brazil police raid home of Bolsonaro, accused of plotting coup
He lashed out at Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, a Bolsonaro adversary who on Friday ordered the ex-president to wear an electronic ankle bracelet, not leave his home at night, or use social media. Moraes, one of the judges in Bolsonaro's trial for allegedly seeking to nullify leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's 2022 election victory, said the measures were necessary given the "hostile acts" against Brazil by the accused and his son.
This came after Trump announced a 50% tariff on the South American powerhouse for what he said was a "witch hunt" against his ally Bolsonaro.
Moraes, said Eduardo Bolsonaro, "has long abandoned any semblance of impartiality and now operates as a political gangster in robes, using the Supreme Court as his personal weapon."
The judge was "trying to criminalize President Trump and the US government. Powerless against them, he chose to take my father hostage," he added in a letter he signed as a "Brazilian congressman in exile."
'Supreme humiliation'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that Washington was revoking a US visa for Moraes for his "political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro." Accusing him of creating a "persecution and censorship complex," Rubio also announced visa restrictions on other judges who side with Moraes, as well as their immediate family members.
Bolsonaro, 70, described the Moraes order Friday as a "supreme humiliation" and said the prohibitions were "suffocating." It also prohibited him from approaching foreign embassies, and confined him to his home on weekdays between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am, and all day on weekends or public holidays.
"I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy," Bolsonaro insisted on emerging from the justice secretariat offices in Brasilia. He had been taken there after the raid, during which police seized cash.
His defense team in a statement expressed "surprise and indignation" at the new measures. The former army captain denies he was involved in an attempt to wrest power back from Lula as part of an alleged coup plot that prosecutors say failed only for a lack of military backing. After the plot fizzled, rioting supporters known as "Bolsonaristas" raided government buildings in early 2023 as they urged the military to oust Lula. Bolsonaro was abroad at the time.
The case against Bolsonaro carries echoes of Trump's failed prosecution over the January 6, 2021 attacks by his supporters on the US Capitol to try and reverse his election loss to Joe Biden. Both men have claimed to be victims of political persecution, and Trump has stepped in in defense of his ally, to the anger of Lula who has labeled the tariff threat "unacceptable blackmail."
Washington also announced an investigation into "unfair trading practices" by Brazil, a move that could provide a legal basis for imposing tariffs on South America's largest economy. On Tuesday, prosecutors asked the trial judges of the Supreme Court to find Bolsonaro guilty of "armed criminal association" and planning to "violently overthrow the democratic order."
The defense must still present its closing arguments, after which a five-member panel of judges, including Moraes, will decide the ex-president's fate. Bolsonaro and seven co-accused risk up to 40 years in prison.

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France 24
16 hours ago
- France 24
Brazil top court rules out immediate arrest of Bolsonaro for violating social media ban
Brazil' s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that former president Jair Bolsonaro would not be taken into detention -- for now -- during his trial for allegedly plotting a coup. But the court warned the 70-year-old would be imprisoned immediately if he violated restrictions, including a ban on using social media that was imposed last week. The far-right politician is on trial for allegedly plotting a coup to cling to power after losing the 2022 election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On Friday the court slapped restrictions on Bolsonaro amid suspicion he was trying to disrupt the trial. He is now forced to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and cannot use social media. And third parties are not allowed to retransmit his public remarks. But Judge Alexandre de Moraes considered it an "isolated irregularity" that social media accounts of one of Bolsonaro's sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, "were used in his favor." Bolsonaro made a speech Monday that went viral on social media, but he did not post the speech from his own account -- his sons and allies did. Moraes -- with whom Bolsonaro has clashed often -- cited posts from accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook with videos, images and text from Bolsonaro's speech. According to Moraes, the former president "delivered a speech to be shown on digital platforms." The former president appeared before the cameras this week to show the ankle monitor on his left foot. "This is a symbol of the utmost humiliation," he said. "What matters to me is God's law," he added, rejecting the court's rulings. The Trump factor US President Donald Trump, who counts Bolsonaro among his allies, has waded into the trial, accusing the Brazilian authorities of conducting a witch hunt. His administration has imposed visa restrictions on Moraes over his conduct in the case, and announced 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian imports unless the charges are dropped. Eduardo Bolsonaro stepped down from his position as a congressman in March and moved to the United States, where he is campaigning for the Trump administration to intercede on his father's behalf. Writing on X, Eduardo Bolsonaro said the new warning from Moraes was "a clumsy and desperate effort to censor me using my father as a hostage." "You are a cowardly tyrant, Alexandre. A washed up coward," he added. Moraes believes Bolsonaro and his son seek to "subject the functioning of the Supreme Court (of Brazil) to the control of the United States." Among the restrictions imposed on Bolsonaro is an order not to approach embassies or the governments of other countries. He must also remain at home at night and on weekends, although he denied any plans to flee Brazil.


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