Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, to four years and two months in prison. The ruling came because Eduardo Bolsonaro lobbied in the United States on behalf of his father, seeking support against an ongoing legal case.
The court stated that it is not the role of a Brazilian congressman to lobby abroad against his own country. Justice Alexandre de Moraes said that Eduardo Bolsonaro’s attempts to influence the US government led to tariffs on Brazilian products.
Eduardo Bolsonaro will initially serve his sentence in an open prison and is barred from public office for the next eight years. The verdict can be appealed.
The case is linked to the conviction of his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced in September to more than 27 years in prison for plotting a coup. He was found guilty of leading a criminal organization to overturn his 2022 election loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Eduardo Bolsonaro called the verdict politically motivated and criticized that he was not properly informed about the proceedings. He said the real purpose of the case was to remove his name from the elections.
Presidential elections are scheduled for October in Brazil, with Bolsonaro’s older brother Flávio Bolsonaro running. Eduardo Bolsonaro had also planned to run in a by-election for a seat in the Brazilian Senate after losing his lower house seat in December due to frequent absences.
Source: www.zeit.de
