(AFP) – With his steely gaze and bald pate, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has emerged as one of the most powerful and polarizing people in Brazil. The 56-year-old jurist has repeatedly taken aim at the Brazilian far-right and its figurehead, former president Jair Bolsonaro, whose trial on coup charges saw Moraes targeted for US financial sanctions Wednesday.
Moraes has repeatedly incurred the ire of US President Donald Trump, who has condemned a “witch hunt” against his right-wing ally Bolsonaro — on trial for allegedly plotting to wrest back power after losing 2022 elections to leftwing rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Most recently, Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle bracelet pending the conclusion of his trial, and barred him from leaving his home at night or using social media. The judge said measures were necessary given “hostile acts” against Brazil by Bolsonaro and his son Eduardo, who campaigns in the United States for sanctions against the “totalitarian” Moraes. Moraes ordered that the younger Bolsonaro be investigated for alleged obstruction of justice.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury announced sanctions against Moraes, who it accused of seeking to be “judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against US and Brazilian citizens and companies.” Trump also signed an executive order slapping 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian imports citing Bolsonaro’s “politically motivated persecution.”
– ‘Evil dictator’ –
Moraes has also emerged at the forefront of Brazil’s fight against fake news. Last year, he shuttered tech titan Elon Musk’s X network in Brazil, one of its largest markets, for 40 days for failing to tackle disinformation frequently shared by Bolsonaro’s supporters. Musk fumed, branding Moraes an “evil dictator cosplaying as a judge” and accusing him of “trying to destroy democracy in Brazil.” Bolsonaro, who maintains his innocence, has also called Moraes a dictator.
– ‘Political animal’ –
Known by his nickname, “Xandao,” Moraes looms large over a deeply divided Brazil. The immensely powerful judge, who has also headed the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), is hated by the far right, which accuses him of censorship and abuse of office. To others, the muay thai martial arts aficionado is a hero on a mission to save Brazil’s young democracy.
There was little in Moraes’s background to hint he would become a thorn in the side of conservatives. The constitutional law expert worked as a Sao Paulo state prosecutor and state security secretary. Known as a hardliner, he drew criticism from left-wing activists who accused him of repressing social movements. Moraes served as justice minister under center-right president Michel Temer, who named him to the Supreme Court in 2017. “He’s a political animal,” constitutional law expert Antonio Carlos de Freitas told AFP. Supreme Court insiders call Moraes a pragmatist. But his pursuit of Bolsonaro and Musk’s X showed a steelier side.
Moraes has presided over multiple cases targeting Bolsonaro, including barring the so-called “Trump of the Tropics” from running for office until 2030 over attempts to discredit Brazil’s electoral system. The coup investigation threatens to definitively torpedo Bolsonaro’s political comeback bid. The 70-year-old former army captain risks up to 40 years in prison if convicted in the case prosecutors say included plans to arrest and even assassinate Lula, his vice president Geraldo Alckmin, and Moraes.
– Future president? –
Moraes was an omnipresent figure during the polarizing 2022 campaign, aggressively using his rulings to fight election disinformation. That included blocking accounts of prominent conservatives, leading to his standoff with Musk, who has been accused of turning his social media platform into a megaphone for right-wing conspiracy theories. Moraes, a married father of three, gives few interviews and rarely posted on his X account, where he had a million followers, before closing it in February.
“Freedom of expression doesn’t mean freedom of aggression,” Moraes has said. “It doesn’t mean the freedom to defend tyranny.” Still two decades away from Brazil’s mandatory retirement age of 75 for judges, Moraes has been cited as a possible future presidential candidate. He has not discussed any such ambitions publicly.
– Ramon SAHMKOW
© 2024 AFP
