Brazil convicts Jair Bolsonaro's son of pursuing US help in father's legal battle

The son of jailed former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been convicted by Brazil's highest court of pursuing US intervention during his father's coup trial last year.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, 41, was charged last year with lobbying US authorities to help the ex-president by imposing tariffs or sanctions on Brazil.

A former congressman in Brazil, Eduardo relocated to the US in 2025 before his father, who governed the country from January 2019 to December 2022, was found guilty of plotting a military coup and given a 27-year sentence.

Writing on social media on Tuesday, Eduardo called the conviction "baseless and senseless", saying the justices wanted to stop him from running for election.

He added that there was a lack of due process in the case against him, that he was never formally served and was only notified of the case through media reports.

Brazil's Supreme Court sentenced him in absentia to four years and two months in prison.

The younger Bolsonaro previously told the BBC he was living in "exile" out of fear he would be arrested if he returned to Brazil.

He has publicly lobbied for support for his father from the Trump administration, which likened the case against the former Brazilian president to a "witch hunt".