- Supreme Court convicted Bolsonaro’s son, sentenced him to prison.
- He interfered in father’s coup trial, seeking US pressure.
- Ruling bans him from public office for eight years.
(Edited by: Rana Taha)
Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday convicted the son of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is living in the US, over meddling in his father’s trial over plotting a coup.
A panel of justices unanimously convicted Eduardo Bolsonaro, sentencing him to four years and two months in prison for seeking the Trump administration’s interference in his father’s trial.
Bolsonaro has been living in Texas since 2025 and now risks getting arrested on his return to Brazil. The court ruling also bars him from running for public office for eight years, but he may appeal the decision.
What did the court say?
The court said that Eduardo, a former lawmaker, illegally interfered in his father’s trial last year by lobbying the US government to threaten Brazilian officials to stop the trial.
The ex-President is serving 27 years in prison for plotting a coup to overthrow the election results in 2022.
The judges ruled in favor of the prosecutors, who charged Eduardo Bolsonaro with “threatening judicial authorities and officials from other branches of government” by saying he would secure US sanctions “if the proceedings did not end” well for his father.
“It is not the role of a Brazilian federal deputy to lobby abroad against their own country,” said Judge Alexandre de Moraes, among the Brazilian officials targeted by Trump sanctions.
US President Donald Trump also imposed steep tariffs on Brazil as a punitive measure for what he described as a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro senior.
However, the tariffs were rolled back after the first official meeting between leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Trump.
What has Bolsonaro said about the charges?
Eduardo Bolsonaro said his efforts in Washington were not aimed at getting his father acquitted but at forcing Brazil’s Supreme Court to punish officials who, in his account, were not complying with Brazil’s constitution. Meanwhile, his lawyers argued there was not enough evidence to convict him.
The former lawmaker has claimed that he and his family are being targeted by Brazil’s Supreme Court. He said he had not been properly notified about the court’s legal process.
“The real purpose of this senseless trial is only one: to remove my name from the elections,” read a statement from Bolsonaro, who was planning to run as a substitute Senate candidate in elections in October.
Recently, Eduardo has thrown his weight behind his brother Flavio Bolsonaro, who is preparing to run against Brazil’s incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva later this year. Polls suggest he is da Silva’s strongest challenger.
Both brothers met with Trump in the White House last month.
(Disclaimer: This report first appeared on Deutsche Welle, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.)
