Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered former President Jair Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor.
The decision came as authorities searched the former president’s home and party headquarters in Brasília on Friday.
He was additionally ordered to stop using social media and to cease communications with diplomats.
The former president is also banned from contacting others under investigation, including his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker living in the US with close ties to President Donald Trump.
The measures are reportedly aimed at preventing Bolsonaro from fleeing to the US, where Trump has threatened steep tariffs OF 50% on Brazilian imports in an effort to ease legal pressure on the former president.
Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election, said he never considered fleeing the country and called the court’s measure his “supreme humiliation.”
Trump, who maintained a friendly relationship with Bolsonaro while both were in office, has repeatedly claimed the former Brazilian president is the victim of a “witch hunt.”
“I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,” Trump wrote in a letter to Bolsonaro that he posted on social media, before the raids and court order.
Trump also said his proposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports were intended to pressure Brazilian authorities into dropping the charges.
Unlike Trump’s other tariffs, including those imposed on US allies, the ones targeting Brazil, set to take effect in August, were announced in openly political terms. At the time, he said they were a response to “Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called the threatened duty “unacceptable blackmail.”
Bolsonaro’s son under investigation
The Supreme Court’s restrictions on Bolsonaro also stem from a second investigation into his son Eduardo, who is accused of collaborating with US authorities to sanction Brazilian officials.
Eduardo posted a video filmed outside the White House, saying he had just concluded a round of meetings with US officials.
He had reportedly urged senior White House officials to impose sanctions on the Brazilian judge overseeing his father’s prosecution.
Bolsonaro senior told the Reuters news agency he expects his son to seek US citizenship instead of returning from the United States.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing Bolsonaro’s trial, now in its final stages, said the president and his son Eduardo had incited “hostile acts” against Brazil.
He said Bolsonaro had asked the “head of state of a foreign nation” to interfere in the Brazilian courts.
Lula slams US over sanctions
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Saturday rejected the latest move by the US to sanction judges involved in the prosecution of former president and far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
US President Donald Trump imposed visa restrictions on Friday on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his family and other unnamed court officials.
The sanctions were the latest move by the White House on behalf of Bolsonaro. Last week, Trump also called for 50% tariffs on Brazil over the government’s treatment of the former president.
Lula described the US sanctions as “interference of one country in another’s justice system,” stressing it was “unacceptable and violates the basic principles of respect and sovereignty between nations.”
“My solidarity and support go to the justices of the Supreme Federal Court, who have been affected by yet another arbitrary and completely baseless measure by the United States government,” the Brazilian president said in a statement posted on X.
“I am certain that no form of intimidation or threat, from anyone, will compromise the most important mission of Brazil’s powers and institutions, which is to permanently defend and uphold the democratic rule of law,” he added.
US sanctions
Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, has been accused of seeking to overturn the 2022 election, which was won by Lula. But the former president has denied the charges, claiming to be a victim of political persecution.
Supreme Court judge Moraes ruled on Friday that Bolsonaro must wear an electronic monitoring device, stay home at night and stay off social media as he awaits a verdict.
The ruling prompted the US to slap the sanctions.
“Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
The US visa restrictions hit Moraes, his family members and other Brazilian court officials.
‘Unacceptable blackmail’
Left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, condemned US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and criticism of the Brazilian judiciary in a televised address on Thursday.
Trump has threatened 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods starting August 1.
The US president has said the tariffs would stay in place until legal charges were dropped against former conservative Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro is on trial over allegations that he was involved in a coup attempt after the 2022 presidential election, which he lost to Lula. Bolsonaro has denied the allegations.
Lula called the tariff threat from Trump “unacceptable blackmail.” He also said “attempting to interfere in Brazilian justice is a grave attack on national sovereignty.”
Lula characterized Brazilian politicians who back Trump’s policies as “traitors to the homeland.”
“No foreigner is going to give order to this president,” Lula said, using the word “gringo” to refer to Trump. The word “gringo” is commonly used by Brazilians, it refers to foreigners and is not used in an offensive manner.
In an interview earlier Thursday with CNN, Lula denied that the proceedings against Bolsonaro are politically motivated. “The judiciary branch of power in Brazil is independent. The president of the Republic has no influence whatsoever,” he said.
Although Lula has criticized Trump, he has emphasized that he wants a “good relationship” with the US president.
Trump’s sympathy letter
Lula’s condemnation of Trump comes as the US president posted a sympathy letter aimed at Bolsonaro on his Truth Social account.
“I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,” Trump said in his letter to Bolsonaro. “I have strongly voiced my disapproval both publicly and through our tariff policy.”
Trump also alluded to the suspension of the conservative video platform Rumble in Brazil, saying that the Latin American nation is cracking down on free speech.
As Trump lashes out at the legal proceedings against Bolsonaro, The Washington Post newspaper reported that the Trump administration is considering sanctions against a key Brazilian Supreme Court judge.
Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes will be tasked with deciding whether Bolsonaro and codefendants will spend dozens of years in jail over the coup charges. The Washington Post reported that Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, is working with US officials to impose sanctions on Moraes.
The dispute between the US and Brazil comes ahead of Brazilian presidential elections next year. Lula has suggested that he does not rule out a 2026 presidential run, and he may emphasize his Brazilian sovereignty message as a key part of his electoral platform if the feud with Trump continues into next year.
Louis Oelofse is a DW writer and editor.
Wesley Dockery Journalist and editor focused on global security, politics, business and music
.
DW
