Tabby Wilson
Getty ImagesBrazil’s chief prosecutor has charged the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro with coercion, according to an official statement on Monday.
The attorney general’s office has alleged Eduardo Bolsonaro, a congressman, repeatedly acted to subject the interests of the republic to personal and family agendas, subjecting Brazil to threats of sanctions from foreign governments.
The congressman called these charges “bogus” in a post on social media X, saying it was “absurd” to accuse him of obstruction of justice.
The latest move comes weeks after the ex-president, who governed Brazil from January 2019 to December 2022, was sentenced to 27 years in jail after he was found guilty of plotting a coup.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who resides in the US, claimed he received news of the charges through the press, and the timing of the announcement highlighted his “ongoing political persecution”.
In addition to a conviction, prosecutors will also seek “compensation for damages resulting from the criminal actions”.
Businessman Paulo Figueiredo, grandson of former dictator João Batista Figueiredo, has also been named in the charges.
ReutersEduardo Bolsonaro relocated to the US earlier this year, and told the BBC he was living in “exile” out of fear of arrest should he return to Brazil.
He has publicly lobbied for support for his father from the Trump administration, which likened the case against the former Brazilian president to a “witch hunt”.
US President Donald Trump, who sees Bolsonaro as an ally, imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil in July, a move that current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called “not only misguided but illogical”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed further action to pressure Brazil over the ex-president’s conviction, and on Monday announced sanctions on the wife of Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who presided over the former president’s trial.
The justice said the sanctions against his wife were “illegal and regrettable”.
Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of plotting a coup earlier this month and has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Tens of thousands of Brazilians joined protests in cities across the country on Sunday to protest against a bill which could result in amnesty for the former president.
Under the proposal, members of Congress would have to give their approval – in a secret ballot – before a lawmaker could be charged or arrested.
Critics have dubbed it the “Banditry Bill” but members of Congress who supported it said it was necessary to shield them from what they said was “judicial overreach”.
President Lula wrote on X: “I stand with the Brazilian people. Today’s demonstrations show that the population does not want impunity or amnesty.”
He has also vowed to veto the amnesty bill were it to be passed by the Senate.
