US places sanctions on individuals close to judge in Bolsonaro case – JURIST

The US Department of State on Monday announced sanctions against individuals within the support network of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, expanding earlier measures to now target and pressure his wife and her company.

The US Department of the Treasury of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in a press release said that wife Viviane de Moraes and family-operated Lex Institute were sanctionable under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which authorizes the president to designate and sanction corrupt public officials and anyone who “materially assists” them. The department determined that Viviane de Moraes and her company provided material and financial support to the justice, who has allegedly engaged in “serious human rights abuses,” including arbitrary detentions and restrictions on freedom of expression.

Sanctioned individuals are blocked from accessing their property if it enters the US and blocked from engaging in transactions with US persons. OFAC said that US individuals who engage with sanctioned parties can receive significant civil or criminal penalties assessed in accordance with the Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines.

Justice Moraes, who presided over the criminal case that found former president Jair Bolsonaro guilty of attempting to overturn the 2022 election, was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in July. The sanctions came the same day as an executive order that claimed the justice “abused his judicial authority” and called the Bolsonaro trial a political persecution.

Brazilian officials have condemned the US measures as interference in Brazil’s internal affairs. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the UN General Assembly last week that “attacks on Brazil’s institutions are unacceptable,” adding, “there is no justification for the unilateral and arbitrary measures against our institutions and our economy.”

The State Department indicated that further sanctioning of Brazilian officials remains possible.