American State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott called the Supreme Court (STF) minister Alexandre de Moraes as an “activist judge” on Thursday (31).
The new criticisms were made a day after the Treasury Department enforced sanctions against the judge based on magnitsky law, US legislation that allows Washington to apply sanctions against accused of human rights violations and corruption worldwide.
“Moraes is an activist judge who abused his authority by engaging in a targeted and politically motivated effort to silence political critics by issuing secret online platforms, including US social media companies, banishing individuals for posting protected content,” Pigott said in a press conference.
“Moraes still abused his position by authorizing unfair pre-judgment and undermine freedom of expression. Moraes actions affect people and US companies, and the US do not tolerate malignant foreign agents who abuse their positions of authority to undermine the freedom of expression of US citizens,” he added.
Asked about the possibility of new sanctions against Brazilian authorities, Pigott was no use if new measures can be taken.
“I will not anticipate what we can have in terms of advertising of new sanctions or other actions. What I can say is just pointing to this action and, again, emphasizing how seriously we take it,” said the spokesman.
Measures of the Treasury Department against Moraes include blockade of all his assets in the United States or in possession or control of Americans; Blocking of companies or other organizations that have a 50% or more participation of the minister; and prohibition of people in the United States or in transit in the US territory to make financial and commercial transactions with the judge, except in the event of a license issued by the US foreign asset control agency (OFAC).
Earlier, on the 18th, the State Department had announced the revocation of the Moraes visas, of “his allies” in the Supreme Court and his family members, who are prevented from entering the United States.
At the time, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, had claimed, just as the Treasury Department did yesterday, that Moraes promotes a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is being tried at the STF on accusations of attempted coup after the 2022 election. The two departments also accused the minister of censorship.
