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.