Eduardo Bolsonaro sentenced to four years in prison for lobbying against Brazil
Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro in absentia to four years in prison for pressuring Washington to impose sanctions on Brasília. He will be barred from holding any public office for eight years.
Four years in prison for the son of Brazil's former president
Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro, the third son of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, to four years in prison in absentia. According to Le Temps, the verdict sanctions his lobbying of American authorities in favour of his father, who himself was convicted of attempting a coup d'État.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, 41, is a former federal deputy and has resided in the United States since early 2025. He was prosecuted for obstructing his father's trial before the Supreme Court, notably through pressure exerted on American president Donald Trump so that Washington would impose economic sanctions on Brazil.
"Threatening judicial authorities"
Four judges of the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the prosecution. The accusation held against Eduardo Bolsonaro the fact of having "threatened judicial authorities and other powers", asserting that he would obtain "from American authorities sanctions (...) if the trial did not end" in accordance with his father's wishes.
Judge Alexandre de Moraes, in charge of the case, was direct in his reasoning: "It is not the function of a Brazilian federal deputy to lobby abroad against his own country."
Barred from office until 2038
To the prison sentence is added a ban on exercising any public office for eight years following completion of his sentence. Eduardo Bolsonaro's parliamentary mandate had already been annulled in December, due to an excessive number of absences since his departure from Brazil in early 2025.
These decisions remain subject to appeal.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who had ambitions to run in the senate elections, rejected the verdict on X: "The sole and true objective of this absurd trial: to remove my name from the list of election candidates."
His brother, senator Flávio Bolsonaro — presented as the principal rival to Lula in the next presidential election — denounced a conviction that "clearly amounts to revenge" by judge Alexandre de Moraes, adding that "we no longer live in a fully fledged democracy".
Lobbying that was initially effective, then neutralised
The pressure campaign led by the former deputy initially bore fruit. Washington had imposed a 40 per cent surcharge on Brazilian products exported to the United States, citing a "witch-hunt" against the former president. This measure came into force in early August 2025.
It was nevertheless lifted in large part in November, due in particular to the inflation that these Brazilian products were fuelling in the United States. The easing of tensions between Washington and Brasília that followed also led to the lifting of American financial sanctions against judge Alexandre de Moraes.
The context is that of the trial of Jair Bolsonaro himself, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison in September for attempting to remain in power after his election defeat to Lula in 2022.
Escalation of tensions after Trump-Bolsonaro meeting
Eduardo Bolsonaro's conviction comes amid an escalation of tensions between Washington and Brasília. In May, Donald Trump had met with Flávio Bolsonaro, the brother of the condemned man, a meeting that had revived diplomatic frictions between the two countries.
Source: Le Temps