Brazil convicts Jair Bolsonaro's son for seeking U.S. help in father's legal battle

Federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro had asked the U.S. Congress and the Trump administration to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on Brazilian officials handling his father's alleged coup-attempt case. Supreme Court justices held that the campaign fell under Brazil's "sovereignty" provisions, with inviting a foreign state to disrupt judicial proceedings amounting to a crime against institutions.

Bolsonaro received a three-year prison sentence, along with a political ban that strips his right to seek re-election. His lawyers said they would appeal, while the deputy denounced the ruling on social media as "political persecution." Technical questions remain over enforcement: Eduardo currently lives in Florida, and any sentence would only kick in if he returns to Brazil.

The timing lands as the right-wing bloc prepares for the São Paulo and Rio municipal races. The Lula government did not comment directly, although Justice Ministry officials said the ruling demonstrated "institutional resilience." The BBC's Brasília correspondent reports that the verdict on former president Bolsonaro's own coup-attempt case now feels closer than before.