MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US imposes sanctions on STF Judge De Moraes

The US Treasury Department “will continue to hold accountable those who threaten US interests and the freedoms of our citizens,” Bessent said

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Wednesday imposed a series of sanctions against Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice Alexandre De Moraes, whom the agency accuses believes to have violated freedom of expression through “arbitrary arrests” in the attempted coup trial and with his decisions regarding US social media companies.

“De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Today's action makes clear that the Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten US interests and the freedoms of our citizens,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

The US echoes former President Jair Bolsonaro's claim that he is being persecuted for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 8, 2023, uprising. The prosecution claims Bolsonaro pressured military commanders to suspend the results of the October 2022 presidential election, which he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

OFAC invoked the Magnitsky Act to punish alleged human rights violators abroad, as a basis. The measure blocks the assets and companies of those targeted. If De Moraes has companies or stock, with 50% or more, of companies in the US, they will be blocked.

In addition to the lawsuit against the coup plotters, the US government office cited De Moraes' decisions against US social media outlets linked to President Donald Trump as motivation for the sanction. “He also issued orders directly to US social media companies to block or remove hundreds of accounts, often those of his critics and other critics of the Brazilian government, including US citizens,” the OFAC said.

In February, De Moraes ordered the suspension of Rumble, the social network of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also owns Truth Social. The company was suspended for not having a legal representative in Brazil, a requirement under Brazilian law.

In August 2024, the judge suspended the X platform, also based in the US, for failing to comply with court decisions and not having a legal representative.

The US Treasury Department accuses De Moraes of violating freedom of expression in Brazil and the United States. “Through his actions as a Supreme Court justice, De Moraes has undermined the rights of Brazilians and Americans to freedom of expression,” the OFAC argued.

The Trump administration agency also pointed out that De Moraes ordered “preventive arrests without charges” and the imprisonment of a journalist and social media users “in retaliation for exercising freedom of expression.”

Analysts consulted by Agência Brasil have been warning that the far right, both in Brazil and in the United States, has been distorting the reality of judicial proceedings in Brazil to argue that the country was experiencing a climate of censorship and persecution.