WASHINGTON – The United States as imposed crippling sanctions on Justice of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Justice Alexandre De Moraes, his wife, Viviane Barci De Moraes and their company, the Lex Institute.
In a statement, the Department of State said the Supreme Court justice is using his powers to weaponise courts and suppress freedom of expression.
“Today, the United States is sanctioning enablers of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, to include Moraes’ wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, and their holding company, the Lex Institute”, the department said.
Moraes was designated on July 30 for serious human rights abuse, the statement added, stressing that Moraes has used his position to weaponize courts, authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions, and suppress freedom of expression.
“These sanctions build on a series of actions taken by the Trump Administration to hold Moraes accountable for abusing his authority, creating a censorship complex, blatantly targeting political opponents, and committing serious human rights abuse”, the statement noted adding that those who protect and enable foreign malign actors like Moraes threaten U.S. interests and will also be held to account.
The statement said they are being designated pursuant to Executive Order 13818.
