File photo of Alexandre de Moraes. AFP.
Washington: The United States announced sanctions Monday against the wife of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes who oversaw the trial culminating in former president Jair Bolsonaro's conviction on coup charges.
De Moraes himself had been among Brazilian officials already targeted by US sanctions in July.
President Donald Trump, a longtime ally of Bolsonaro, has repeatedly denounced the coup-plot trial, calling it a "witch hunt."
The latest US pressure targets the Supreme Court judge's 56-year-old wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, and the Institute of Legal Studies (Lex), a Sao Paolo firm linked to the family.
The sanctions announced by the Treasury Department prohibit Viviane Barci de Moraes and Lex from engaging in any economic activity involving a US citizen or company, as well as freezing assets and suspending visas.
"Alexandre de Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions, and politicized prosecutions -- including against former President Jair Bolsonaro," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused de Moraes of acting to "weaponize courts, authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions, and suppress freedom of expression."
On September 11, Brazil's Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for his role in an attempted coup in January 2023, after losing the 2022 election to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
