16 hours ago
Sakshi Venkatraman
Reuters
The son of jailed former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been convicted by Brazil's highest court of pursuing US intervention during his father's coup trial last year.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, 41, was charged last year with lobbying US authorities to help the ex-president by imposing tariffs or sanctions on Brazil.
A former congressman in Brazil, Eduardo relocated to the US in 2025 before his father, who governed the country from January 2019 to December 2022, was found guilty of plotting a military coup and given a 27-year sentence.
Writing on social media on Tuesday, Eduardo called the conviction "baseless and senseless", saying the justices wanted to stop him from running for election.
He added that there was a lack of due process in the case against him, that he was never formally served and was only notified of the case through media reports.
Brazil's Supreme Court sentenced him in absentia to four years and two months in prison.
The younger Bolsonaro previously told the BBC he was living in "exile" out of fear he would be arrested if he returned 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 the right-wing Bolsonaro as an ally, imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil last July, a move that current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called "not only misguided but illogical".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later vowed that Washington would respond to Bolsonaro's conviction. The Trump administration had already sanctioned Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on July 30, accusing him of abuses linked to his handling of Bolsonaro-related cases.
Lula said Brazil was willing to negotiate with the US on trade, but called sanctions targeting de Moraes an "unacceptable" interference in the country's justice system.
The US has since withdrawn the sanctions.
During Trump's first term, the US president and former Brazilian president Bolsonaro enjoyed a friendly relationship when their presidencies overlapped, and the two had met at the White House in 2019.
Both men subsequently lost presidential elections and both refused to publicly acknowledge defeat.
The elder Bolsonaro was convicted over a plot to overturn his 2022 election defeat. The case was tied to a wider effort to keep him in power, including the January 2023 storming of government buildings in Brasilia by his supporters.
"This is nothing more, or less, than an attack on a Political Opponent - Something I know much about!" Trump said at the time. In response, Bolsonaro thanked the US president for his support.
Read the full article at BBC News (World) →📄Source document: Brazil's Supreme Court
2 reports
BBC News (World)State / PublicCenter4 days agoEduardo Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has been convicted by Brazil's Supreme Court of seeking U.S. intervention in his father's legal proceedings related to a coup plot. The conviction occurred in absentia, with Eduardo currently residing in the United States. He claims the charges are baseless and criticizes the judicial process, stating he was not formally served and learned of the case via media. Eduardo has expressed concerns about being arrested if he returns to Brazil and has sought support from the Trump administration.
Bias read (Center): The article presents facts without overtly favoring any side. It includes statements from Eduardo Bolsonaro and mentions his claims of procedural issues but does not editorialize or present biased language. The framing remains neutral, focusing on the legal outcome and the involved parties' stances.
Official sources cited
- government Brazil's Supreme Court
- press release Eduardo Bolsonaro
The Guardian (World)IndependentCenter4 days agoBrazil's Supreme Court has sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, to four years and two months in prison for attempting to involve the U.S. government in his father's trial over alleged coup plotting. Eduardo Bolsonaro was accused of seeking support from the Trump administration, including imposing sanctions on Brazilian judges and tariffs on Brazilian goods. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, is currently serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Eduardo Bolsonaro moved to the U.S. in 2025 and claimed his
Bias read (Center): The article presents facts without overtly biased language or selective sourcing. It reports the legal outcome and statements from both the prosecution and the defendant without apparent ideological framing.
Official sources cited
- government Brazil's Supreme Court
- government Prosecutor General's Office
United Kingdom