Brasilia - Saba:
President Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva accused the United States on Thursday of interfering in the Brazilian judiciary, following the US Treasury Department's imposition of sanctions on Supreme Court Judge Aleixandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Act.
Lula da Silva said in a post on the X platform: "The US government's interference in the Brazilian judiciary is unacceptable," affirming his government's solidarity with Judge de Moraes.
He added that "the independence of the judiciary is a pillar of democracy and respect for human rights in Brazil, and any attempt to weaken it represents a threat to the democratic system itself."
The US Treasury Department had accused Judge de Moraes of carrying out "a repressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary arrests, and politicized criminal cases, including against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro," without providing evidence to support these allegations.
It is noteworthy that on January 8, 2023, supporters of former President Bolsonaro stormed the Congress building, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court building in the capital, Brasilia, in protest against the results of the presidential election. This resulted in the arrest of approximately 2,000 people, and 375 of them were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 17 years.
The authorities barred Bolsonaro from holding any official position until 2030, accusing him of inciting unrest.
It is worth noting that the Magnitsky Act, passed by Washington in 2012 to impose sanctions on Russian figures for alleged "human rights violations," was later expanded into a global law, and countries in the European Union have adopted similar legislation.