The son of the former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is accused of coercion

The Chief Prosecutor of Brazil charged on Monday the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro of coercion.

The prosecutor’s office allegedly alleged that Eduardo Bolsonaro, a member of the Congress, acted on several occasions to submit the interests of the Republic to personal and family agendas, submitting Brazil to threats of sanctions from foreign governments.

The Congress member described these accusations as “false” in an article on X social media, saying that it was “absurd” to accuse him of obstruction to justice.

The last decision comes for weeks after the ex-president, who ruled Brazil from January 2019 to December 2022, was sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty of having plotted a coup.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in the United States, said he received a news of the accusations through the press, and the moment of the announcement underlined his “in progress political persecution”.

In addition to a conviction, prosecutors will also ask for “compensation for damages resulting from criminal actions”.

Businessman Paulo Figueiredo, grandson of former dictator João Batista Figueiredo, was also appointed in the accusations.

Eduardo Bolsonaro moved to the United States earlier this year and told the BBC that he lived in “Exile” for fear of the arrest if he returned to Brazil.

He publicly put pressure on to support his father from the Trump administration, who compared the case against the former Brazilian president to a “witch hunt”.

President Donald Trump, who considers Bolsonaro as an ally, imposed a 50% rate in Brazil in July, a decision that the current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called “not only wrong but illogical”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised new measures to put Brazil on the conviction of the former president on the conviction and announced the sanctions against the wife of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, who chaired the trial of the former president on Monday.

The judge said the sanctions against his wife were “illegal and regrettable”.

Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty of plotting a coup earlier this month and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of Brazilians joined demonstrations in cities in the whole country to protest a bill that could lead to the amnesty of the former president.

Under the proposal, the members of the Congress should give their approval – in a secret ballot – before a legislator can be charged or arrested.

The criticisms nicknamed him the “bill on banditry”, but the members of the Congress who supported him said that it was necessary to protect them from what they said was “overtaking”.

President Lula wrote on X: “I am with the Brazilian people. Today’s demonstrations show that the population does not want impunity or amnesty.”

He also promised to veto the amnesty bill if the Senate is adopted by the Senate.