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The United States has imposed sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes over using his position to authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppress freedom of expression.
“Alexandre de Moraes has taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against U.S. and Brazilian citizens and companies,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens.”
The U.S. Department of State earlier this month revoked de Moraes’s visa and those of his immediate family members for their complicity in aiding and abetting de Moraes’ unlawful censorship campaign against U.S. persons on U.S. soil.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Moraes under E.O. 13818, which implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States is sanctioning Brazilian Supreme Federal Court justice Alexandre de Moraes for serious human rights abuse, including arbitrary detention involving flagrant denials of fair trial guarantees and violations of the freedom of expression.
De Moraes was appointed to the Supreme Federal Court in 2017. Since then, he has become one of Brazil’s most powerful individuals, wielding immense authority through his oversight of expansive STF investigations. De Moraes has investigated, prosecuted, and suppressed those who have engaged in speech that is protected under the U.S. Constitution, repeatedly subjecting victims to long preventive detentions without bringing charges. Through his actions as an STF justice, de Moraes has undermined Brazilians’ and Americans’ rights to freedom of expression. In one notable instance, de Moraes arbitrarily detained a journalist for over a year in retaliation for exercising freedom of expression.
De Moraes has targeted opposition politicians, including former President Jair Bolsonaro; journalists; newspapers; U.S. social media platforms; and other U.S. and international companies, OFAC said.
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