In a statement published Friday (Dec. 12), the US government removed the name of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from the list of persons under the Magnitsky Act.

The name of his wife, lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes, and the Lex Institute, linked to the justice’s family, were also scrapped.

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The decision was made by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury.

The Magnitsky Act sanctions were imposed on Justice Alexandre de Moraes by the Donald Trump administration in late July. In September, his wife’s name was also added to the list.

The act

The Magnitsky Act is a tool in US law used to unilaterally punish alleged human rights violators abroad. Among other things, the measure blocks the assets and companies of those targeted by the sanctions in the US.

Among the penalties are the freezing of bank accounts, assets, and holdings within US jurisdiction, as well as a ban on entry into the country.

In applying the sanction to Moraes, the US Department of the Treasury accused Justice Alexandre de Moraes of violating freedom of expression and authorizing “arbitrary arrests,” citing the trial of the attempted coup by Brazilian former President Bolsonaro as well as court decisions against US social media companies.

According to Treasury Secretary Scot Besset, Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions, “including against former President Jair Bolsonaro.”

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro’s defense team has asked Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow him to leave prison to undergo surgery as recommended by his doctors. The request was submitted Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Bolsonaro is being held in a room at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília, where he is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for his conviction in the criminal case involving a coup plot.

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His lawyers claim his health has deteriorated and are requesting that he be taken immediately to the DF Star Hospital in Brasília. His hospitalization should last five to seven days, they say.

“As stated by the doctor treating the petitioner, the former president needs surgery both to treat his hiccups – which are a side effect of previous surgeries – and because his unilateral inguinal hernia has worsened and also requires surgical intervention,” the petition reads.

They also asked Justice Moraes again to place Bolsonaro under house arrest. According to the defense, the prison environment is incompatible with the former president’s health condition.

There is no deadline for Justice Alexandre de Moraes to decide on the matter.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was taken to the Federal Police Headquarters in Brasília this Saturday (Nov. 22) after using a soldering iron in an attempt to remove his electronic ankle monitor. He was under house arrest and being monitored.

Because of the infraction and other evidence suggesting an intention to flee, Bolsonaro will now serve pre-trial detention in a 12-square-meter cell. He will appear at a custody hearing this Sunday (23).

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Information about the attempt to break the ankle monitor appears in a report from the State Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration of the Federal District (Seap), sent to the Supreme Court along with a video in which Bolsonaro himself admits to the damage.

“[It was] curiosity,” he said, noting that the attempt to remove the device occurred late Friday afternoon (21).

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the preventive detention and lifted the secrecy surrounding the Seap report and video. He gave Bolsonaro’s defense 24 hours to respond regarding the attempt to tamper with the ankle monitor.

“The device showed clear and significant signs of damage. There were burn marks around its entire circumference, at the point where the case was attached. During the analysis, the monitored individual was asked about the tool used. In response, he stated that he had used a soldering iron to try to remove the device,” the report states.

The ankle monitor was then replaced with a new device.

On Friday, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – Rio de Janeiro) used social media to call for a prayer vigil near the house where his father, Jair Bolsonaro, had been under house arrest since August 4.

In the decision ordering preventive detention, Justice Alexandre de Moraes cites the violation of the ankle monitor and says that the meeting could cause unrest and even facilitate “a possible escape attempt by the defendant.”

Sentenced to 27 years and three months in the coup-plot criminal case, Bolsonaro and the other defendants may begin serving their sentences in the coming weeks.

Last week, the First Panel of the Court rejected the so-called motions for clarification filed by the former president and six other defendants, which sought to overturn the convictions and prevent the execution of the sentences in a closed regime.

This Sunday (23) marks the deadline for the defense to submit its final appeals. If the appeals are rejected, the arrests will be carried out.

The former president’s defense requested, on Friday, the granting of humanitarian house arrest for Jair Bolsonaro, but Moraes rejected the request on Saturday. According to his lawyers, Bolsonaro has permanent illnesses that require “intense medical monitoring,” and for this reason they argue that he should remain under house arrest.

Regarding Saturday’s preventive detention, the defense says it will appeal the decision.

Bolsonaro was under house arrest due to non-compliance with precautionary measures previously established by the Supreme Court. These measures stem from the investigation in which federal representative Eduardo Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – São Paulo), the former president’s son, is being investigated for his actions with the government of US President Donald Trump to promote retaliatory measures against the Brazilian government and Supreme Court justices.