Brazil’s Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes threatened to arrest conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday, accusing him of breaking the terms of restrictive “precautionary measures” imposed on him by speaking to reporters at the Brazilian Congress.
De Moraes argued that Bolsonaro “circumvented” the social media ban he imposed on him after footage of his presence at Congress was published online and reportedly gave Bolsonaro’s legal team a 24-hour deadline to explain themselves. If the lawyers cannot “adequately justify Bolsonaro’s conduct,” he may order the immediate arrest of the former president, he said.
Bolsonaro is presently facing trial at the Brazilian top court on charges of plotting to stage a “coup” and overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election, which he narrowly lost against radical leftist now-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The trial, one of several judicial proceedings led by de Moraes against Bolsonaro, is part of what President Donald Trump described as a “witch hunt” against the former president. Trump named the cases as a main reason for imposing a 50-percent tariff on Brazilian goods, which will go into effect on August 1.
On Friday, de Moraes accused Bolsonaro of engaging in “extortion” against the STF by allegedly seeking to obtain amnesty for himself in exchange for purported U.S. tariff relief, as Bolsonaro had publicly suggested that, given his publicly known warm relationship with Trump, he could potentially help Brasilia negotiate on tariffs. De Moraes imposed a list of highly restrictive “precautionary measures” aimed at preventing Bolsonaro from fleeing Brazil, such as wearing a mandatory electronic ankle monitor, adhering to a curfew, and a ban on accessing any social media platform or speaking to his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, foreign diplomats, or any person under STF investigation.
Bolsonaro, who effectively remains trapped in Brazil since de Moraes ordered the police to seize his passport in February 2024, has repeatedly said that he has no intention of fleeing the country. The former president appears to be in compliance with the social media ban at press time. The last posts on both his Twitter and Instagram accounts are dated Thursday, July 18, and feature a video in which he expresses gratitude to President Trump for his support.
On Monday, Bolsonaro held a meeting with elected lawmakers of his Liberal Party (PL) at the headquarters of the Brazilian Congress. On his way out, the former president showed his electronic ankle monitor to the cameras and described it as a “maximum humiliation” in brief remarks. According to local outlets, a commotion occurred as Bolsonaro left, leading to a broken glass table at Congress and pro-Bolsonaro lawmaker Nikolas Ferreira enduring a small facial injury after he was accidentally hit by a microphone. No other damages, injuries, or any violent incident took place during the commotion.
“I didn’t steal from the public coffers, I didn’t embezzle public funds, I didn’t kill anyone, I didn’t traffic anyone. This is a symbol of the ultimate humiliation in our country,” Bolsonaro told reporters. “An innocent person. What they are doing to a former president of the republic is cowardly. We will face everything and everyone. What matters to me is God’s law.”
Bolsonaro’s presence in Congress, his remarks to reporters, and their broadcasts on both television and on internet appear to have outraged de Moraes, who immediately “reinforced” the social media prohibitions on Bolsonaro by claiming that the ban “obviously” also applies to “broadcasts, rebroadcasts, or the dissemination of audio, video, or transcripts of interviews on third-party platforms” and is not just limited to Bolsonaro’s usage of his own accounts.
“The suspect may not use these means to circumvent the measure, under penalty of immediate revocation and imprisonment,” de Moraes wrote in the ruling.
On Tuesday morning, the STF Justices voted to uphold the restrictive measures imposed by de Moraes on Bolsonaro with a 4-1 vote. STF Justice Luiz Fux was the only vote against it. Fux justified his dissent on the grounds that the measures “disproportionally restrict” Bolsonaro’s fundamental rights.
“Indeed, even for the imposition of criminal precautionary measures other than imprisonment, it is essential to demonstrate concretely the necessity of the measure for the application of criminal law and its consequent suitability for the intended purposes,” Fux reportedly wrote. “In light of these legal requirements, there is no concrete need for the precautionary measures imposed at this time.”
De Moraes’s threats caused the PL party to announce that Bolsonaro will no longer participate in a press conference alongside other PL members that the party had organized for a later date.
Hours after de Moraes imposed the restrictions on Bolsonaro, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions against de Moraes, other STF Justices, and court allies for their role in the “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro. According to Brazil’s Attorney General Jorge Messias, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet, who recently called for Bolsonaro’s conviction, also had his U.S. visas revoked.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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