Brazil Supreme Court orders arrest of Eduardo Bolsonaro, presidential candidate’s brother

RIO DE JANEIRO (CN) — Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Wednesday ordered former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro to begin serving his prison sentence and directed the issuance of an arrest warrant.

Bolsonaro — who has lived in the United States since 2025 — is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and the brother of presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro.

De Moraes also ordered Bolsonaro’s Brazilian passports canceled. In June, the court’s First Panel unanimously sentenced Bolsonaro to four years and two months in prison for coercion in judicial proceedings, initially under a semi-open regime.

The justices concluded that he sought U.S. sanctions against Brazilian authorities to intimidate them and obstruct his father’s trial over an attempted coup. The conviction became final on Oct. 3.

In a statement, Bolsonaro called the ruling “arbitrary, ill-timed and ineffectual” and claimed the United States had already made clear it would not comply with such decisions.

He accused De Moraes of deliberately issuing the order during the election to inflame tensions and said a victory for his brother on Oct. 25, alongside the newly elected Congress, would “restore normalcy in Brazil.”

Fábio de Sá e Silva, an associate professor of international studies at the University of Oklahoma, said the decision was legally inevitable once the appeals process ended. Politically, it reinforces the Bolsonaro movement’s portrayal of the court as authoritarian.

“And it should also reinforce the desire for revenge against De Moraes in the new Senate,” he said.

With recent elections, more than half of the Senate is stacked with legislators who are expected to be aligned with Flávio Bolsonaro if he wins the presidential election in three weeks. That majority could have the ability to approve constitutional amendments and impeach Supreme Court justices.

A Flávio Bolsonaro presidency could also open the door to a presidential pardon, Sá e Silva said. He noted that the Supreme Court struck down Jair Bolsonaro’s pardon of former Congressman Daniel Silveira, finding it an improper use of presidential power.

“We would have to wait and see whether the court’s apparent weakening would lead to a different outcome,” he said.

In December 2025, Bolsonaro lost his congressional seat over excessive absences. On Sept. 21, the Justice Ministry formalized his dismissal from his position as a Federal Police clerk for abandoning his post.

If Bolsonaro returns to Brazil, the Federal Police will be responsible for executing the warrant. “There is an order from a judge that the police cannot refuse to carry out,” Sá e Silva said.

Courthouse News reporter Marília Marasciulo is based in Brazil.