Bolsonaro's son blasts top Brazilian court official over assets freeze
Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman who has been active in Washington, DC, drumming up support for his father's court battle, called the decision 'another arbitrary and criminal decision' by Moraes.
'Moraes relies on illegal decisions to protect himself from the consequences of his crimes. Like every dictator,' Eduardo Bolsonaro said in a post on X on Tuesday.
'If he thinks this will make me stop, I make it clear: I will not be intimidated, and I will not be silenced. I prepared myself for this moment,' he said.
'This is just another demonstration of abuse of power and confirms everything I have been denouncing in Washington and to authorities worldwide,' he added.
CNN Brasil first reported that the confidential court decision was issued on Saturday as part of a probe into Eduardo Bolsonaro's conduct in the United States.
In a separate court order issued on Monday, Justice Moraes, who oversees the criminal case in which the former president is accused of plotting a coup to overturn the result of the 2022 election, said any attempt to circumvent a court ruling in which he ordered Bolsonaro to wear an ankle bracelet and banned him from using social media could result in arrest.
Brazilian news outlet G1 reported that Moraes summoned Bolsonaro's lawyers to clarify their client's alleged non-compliance with his court order restricting his use of social media. According to G1, Moraes gave the lawyers 24 hours to present an explanation, adding that if the defence does not adequately justify Bolsonaro's online behaviour, he may order the immediate arrest of the former president.
On Friday, Bolsonaro described the decision by Moraes to prohibit his social media use as 'cowardice', and said he intended to continue engaging with the media to ensure his voice was heard.
Vera Chemim, a Sao Paulo-based constitutional lawyer, told the Reuters news agency that she believed the country's former leader is now on shaky ground, noting that media interviews, while not explicitly mentioned in the court order, could still be used to justify Bolsonaro's arrest.
'Bolsonaro is now completely silenced,' she said. 'Any misstep could lead to a preventive arrest.'
The tightening restrictions on Bolsonaro come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Brazilian court officials, and specifically Justice Moraes, were conducting a 'political witch-hunt' against the former president. As a result, the US was revoking travel visas for 'Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members', Rubio said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula swiftly labelled Washington's decision to impose visa bans on court officials 'arbitrary' and 'baseless', saying that foreign interference in his country's judiciary was 'unacceptable'.
Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods starting on August 1, as he called on Lula to drop the charges against Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro, whose right-wing policies while in power earned him the nickname 'Trump of the Tropics ', has denied that he led an attempt to overthrow the government but acknowledged taking part in meetings aimed at reversing the 2022 election outcome.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Brazil requests World Trade Organization consultation over Trump tariffs
The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has petitioned the World Trade Organization for consultations to help alleviate the steep tariffs imposed on Brazil by the United States. Sources within the Brazilian government confirmed the petition on Wednesday to news outlets like AFP and The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity. The aim is to seek relief from the 50 percent tariff that US President Donald Trump slapped on Brazilian exports in response to the country's prosecution of a former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. That tariff — the highest Trump has imposed on any country in August — took effect on Wednesday. India, meanwhile, is expected to face 50 percent tariffs later this month, unless a deal is struck beforehand. A request for consultations is usually the first step in the World Trade Organization's trade dispute process. The organisation functions as an international arbiter in economic disputes, though its procedures for negotiating settlements can be lengthy and inconclusive. Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin has estimated that 35.9 percent of the country's exports to the US will be subject to the stiff taxes. That equals about 4 percent of Brazil's total exports worldwide. Retaliation over Bolsonaro prosecution Trump unveiled the current tariff rate on July 9, in a letter addressed to Lula and published online. Unlike other tariff-related letters at the time, Trump used the correspondence to launch into a barbed attack on the Brazilian government for its decision to prosecute Bolsonaro, an ally, over an alleged coup attempt. 'The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,' Trump wrote. Just as Trump did after his 2020 electoral defeat, Bolsonaro had publicly cast doubt on the results of a 2022 presidential race that saw him lose to Lula. But behind the scenes, police and prosecutors allege that Bolsonaro conspired with his associates to overturn the results of the election. One possible scenario was to declare a 'state of siege' during Bolsonaro's final days as president, as a means of calling up the military and suspending civil rights. Then, a new election would have been called, according to prosecutors. Another idea allegedly floated among Bolsonaro's allies was to poison Lula. But Trump, who likewise faced criminal charges in the past for allegedly attempting to subvert the outcome of a vote, has defended Bolsonaro, calling the prosecution politically biased. 'This trial should not be taking place,' he wrote in the July 9 letter. 'It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Several weeks later, on July 30, Trump followed up his tariff threat with an executive order that doubled down on his accusations. Not only did Trump accuse Brazil of 'politically persecuting' Bolsonaro, but he added that Brazil was guilty of 'human rights abuses', including the suppression of free speech, through its efforts to stem disinformation on social media. 'Recent policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Brazil threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,' Trump wrote. 'Members of the Government of Brazil have taken actions that interfere with the economy of the United States, infringe the free expression rights of United States persons, violate human rights, and undermine the interest the United States has in protecting its citizens and companies.' Lula speaks out The executive order, however, included an annex that indicated certain products would not be subject to the new US tariffs. They included nuts, orange juice, coal, iron, tin and petroleum products. Lula has claimed that Trump is impeding attempts to negotiate a trade deal between their two countries, a sentiment he repeated in an interview on Wednesday with the news agency Reuters. 'The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him,' Lula told Reuters. 'But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I'm not going to humiliate myself.' The three-term, left-wing president explained that he saw Trump's tariff threats as part of a long history of US intervention in Brazil and Latin America more broadly. 'We had already pardoned the US intervention in the 1964 coup,' Lula said, referencing the overthrow of a Brazilian president that sparked a two-decade-long military dictatorship 'But this now is not a small intervention. It's the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It's unacceptable.' Lula added that he plans to bolster Brazil's 'national sovereignty' by reforming its mineral extraction policy to boost the local economy. With the US tariffs in play, Lula also explained that he would reach out to members of the BRICS economic trading bloc, named for its founding members: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Trump, however, has threatened any BRICS-affiliated country with an additional 10-percent tariff. Lula has been on an English-language media blitz since Trump announced the latest his latest slate of tariffs in July, warning that consumers across the world will be penalised. Late last month, for instance, Lula gave his first interview to The New York Times newspaper in nearly 13 years. When the Times asked what his reaction would be to the tariffs taking effect, Lula expressed ambivalence. 'I'm not going to cry over spilled milk,' he said. 'If the United States doesn't want to buy something of ours, we are going to look for someone who will.'
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump says it is ‘up to Israel' whether to occupy all of Gaza
Washington, DC – United States President Donald Trump has suggested that he will not block possible Israeli plans to take over Gaza. When asked on Tuesday about reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to occupy the entire Palestinian territory, Trump said he is focused on getting 'people fed' in Gaza. 'As far as the rest of it, I really can't say. That's going to be pretty much up to Israel,' the US president told reporters. Washington provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid annually, assistance that significantly increased following the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023. Israel has used forced displacement orders to squeeze Palestinians into ever-shrinking pockets in Gaza, turning 86 percent of the territory into militarised zones. But increased military operations in the remaining part of the territory would further endanger the lives of Palestinians, who already endure daily bombardment and Israeli-imposed starvation. Netanyahu's purported plans to conquer Gaza have also raises concerns about the safety of the remaining Israeli captives held in the enclave by Hamas and other Palestinian groups. Top United Nations official Miroslav Jenca said on Tuesday that a complete occupation of Gaza would 'risk catastrophic consequences'. 'International law is clear in the regard. Gaza is and must remain an integral part of the future Palestinian state,' Jenca told the UN Security Council. Israel withdrew its forces and settlements from the Palestinian territory in 2005, but legal experts have said that the enclave remained technically under occupation, since the Israeli military continued to control Gaza's airspace, territorial waters and ports of entry. Since the start of the war in 2023, right-wing Israeli officials have called for the re-establishment of Israel's military presence and settlements inside Gaza. Netanyahu has also suggested that Israel aims to remove all Palestinians from the enclave, in what would amount to ethnic cleansing, a plan that Trump himself echoed in February. Trump, at the time, proposed clearing Gaza of its people to construct a 'riviera of the Middle East' in its stead. The recent reports about Israel's intention to expand its ground operations in Gaza come amid growing international outcry over the deadly hunger spreading across the territory. Israel has blocked nearly all aid from entering Gaza since March, making US-backed GHF sites almost the only places for Palestinians to get food. Hundreds of Palestinians have been shot by the Israeli military while trying to reach GHF facilities deep inside Israel's lines of control. Nevertheless, the US has continued to support the organisation, despite international pleas to allow the UN to distribute the aid. In recent days, Israel has allowed some food trucks and air drops to distribute aid to Gaza, but the assistance is still far from meeting the needs of the population. The Israeli military has also been accused of targeting aid seekers trying to reach assistance trucks away from GHF sites in northern Gaza. On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his often-repeated claim that the US has provided $60m in aid to Gaza. His administration had provided $30m to GHF. 'As you know, $60m was given by the United States fairly recently to supply food – a lot of food, frankly – for the people of Gaza that are obviously not doing too well with the food,' he told reporters. 'And I know Israel is going to help us with that, in terms of distribution and also money. We also have the Arab states [which] are going to help us with that in terms of the money and possibly distribution.' Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 61,000 people and flattened most of the territory in what rights groups and UN experts have called a genocide.
Al Jazeera
a day ago
- Al Jazeera
US House panel subpoenas Epstein files from Trump administration
Washington, DC – The Republican-led oversight committee in the United States House of Representatives has issued a subpoena to obtain records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, amid ongoing scrutiny about his case. Also on Tuesday, the panel's Republican chair James Comer issued deposition subpoenas for top officials from both major parties, including ex-President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Attorney General Bill Barr. Former FBI Director James Comey, a bitter rival of President Donald Trump, has also been called to testify. The Justice Department subpoena, addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, requests the release of 'all documents and communications relating or referring to' Epstein and his ex-girlfriend and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. Congress has the authority to issue subpoenas, which are legally binding requests for documents and appearances for questioning. Tuesday's subpoenas followed bipartisan subcommittee motions directing Comer to issue the requests. Since his death in federal custody in 2019, Epstein, a wealthy financier, has been the subject of interest and conspiracy theories. Some have speculated that his death was not a suicide, as was the medical examiner's official ruling. Conspiracy theorists have long argued that Epstein socialised with the rich and powerful — including royalty, top academics and government officials — who might want their association with him covered up. The case is proving to be a headache for Trump, who has been facing calls, including from prominent conservatives within his base, to release all Epstein-related documents. Trump had a personal relationship with Epstein and took several photos with him over the years. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Trump sent Epstein a letter containing sexual references on the financier's 50th birthday in 2003. The US president has denied the letter and sued the newspaper over the allegation. But that has not snuffed out the push to make everything the government knows about Epstein public. The Trump administration's refusal to release the records has fuelled unproven allegations that Epstein had a 'client list' of powerful people who abused girls and young women on his property. One of the most prominent conspiracy theories posits that Epstein may have used the list to blackmail his associates for personal gain or on behalf of a domestic or foreign intelligence service. Right-wing commentators, who align with Trump ideologically, have long championed that theory, in part due to Epstein's ties to the Clintons, who are Democrats. Last month, the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a memo denying the existence of an incriminating client list or any evidence of blackmail. Instead, they said the files include tens of thousands of videos and images of sexual abuse of young girls and women, evidence that is sealed by the courts and would not be released to protect the privacy of the victims. 'Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography,' the memo read. 'One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends,' it added. The memo also asserted that Epstein died by suicide, dismissing conspiracy theories challenging the official version of the events. Epstein's crimes came to the authorities' attention long before his death in 2019. In 2008, Epstein faced accusations of sexually abusing teenage girls. But the Justice Department offered him a plea deal that saw him serve 13 months in a work-release jail programme, instead of a possible life sentence if the case had gone to trial. Epstein was re-arrested in July 2019 for sex trafficking and died in his prison cell weeks later at the age of 66. One of Epstein's associates, Maxwell, remains in prison after a conviction on charges of child sex trafficking and abusing teenage girls. The Justice Department, under Trump, has sent representatives to interview Maxwell in prison amid the recent scrutiny, and last week, she was moved to a minimum-security facility to serve the remainder of her 20-year sentence. In a court filing on Tuesday, Maxwell indicated she opposed the government's efforts to release grand jury transcripts related to her case.
