US Should Sanction Brazilian, Pakistani Officials for Repression, House Panel Hears
Paulo Figueiredo, a Brazilian journalist living in Florida, urged the U.S. June 24 to impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on Brazilian judge and “de facto dictator” Alexandre de Moraes for persecuting political opponents and journalists.
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“We hope that this happens very fast because the country’s at the turning point,” Figueiredo testified before the House Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. “If the United States doesn’t act fast enough, I think it will be at the point of no return.”
Figueriredo said de Moraes in 2022 froze his Brazilian assets, blocked his social media accounts, canceled his passport and condemned him to exile for “reporting inconvenient truths.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the State Department is considering imposing Magnitsky sanctions on de Moraes for his role in the trial of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of attempting a coup (see 2505210044). Figueiredo said the accusations against Bolsonaro are “false and political.”
Also during the hearing, Ahmad Noorani, a Pakistani journalist "living in exile" in the U.S., described Pakistan as a "military dictatorship." He urged the U.S. to impose Magnitsky sanctions on Pakistani officials responsible for torture, extrajudicial killings, election-rigging and censorship.
A House bill introduced in March would impose Magnitsky sanctions on Pakistan Army Chief of Staff Gen. Asim Munir for allegedly undermining democracy, such as by imprisoning political opponents (see 2503260032).