Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Moraes Accused of At Least 8 Transnational Repressions
UPDATES 26 Jun 2025: Video of full hearing, list of witnesses and their testimonies, copy of the TLHRC page for this meeting
via TupiReport, Telegram
Our Note: In Brazil, whenever anyone has had formal charges brought against them, they are automatically assumed guilty and must prove their innocence. This bent mindset has permitted the tyrannical Brazil Supreme Court Justice Moraes to wave charges like a Card Blanche with very little resistance from the rest of the Justices.
Brazilian journalist Paulo Figueiredo reported to the U.S. House Human Rights Commission what he described as a serious case of “transnational repression”
Brazilian journalist Paulo Figueiredo reported what he described as a serious case of “transnational repression” to the U.S. House Human Rights Commission, allegedly carried out by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes
Figueiredo stated that he has been targeted by the Brazilian state despite having lived legally in Florida for over a decade.
According to him, being placed on Interpol’s red notice list in 2019 was politically motivated and led to the cancellation of his journalist visa and a 17-day detention in a U.S. immigration center.
He said the case was later dropped by Brazilian authorities after he spent over $1 million on legal defense.
Paulo accused Justice Alexandre de Moraes of launching a series of extralegal measures against him:
freezing bank accounts
suspending social media profiles
canceling his passport, and
even issuing a supposedly secret arrest warrant
Figueiredo emphasized that he has never been formally charged in Brazil, which prevents him from mounting a legal defense.
“I was exiled for reporting uncomfortable truths,” he declared.
Figueiredo also cited other cases he says reflect an authoritarian trend from Brazil:
Aldo Santos, remained on Interpol’s list for more than 2 years until a U.S. court ordered his removal
Carla Zambelli, whose preventive arrest was ordered by Moraes while she was in the U.S., leading to her visa cancellation and eventual flight to Italy where she has dual citizenship (https://t.me/tupireport/21834)
Filipe Martins, was detained for 6 months (https://t.me/tupireport/21486) based on false information about his U.S. entry due to a CBP system error (https://t.me/tupireport/21349)
Also named as direct or indirect targets of Moraes’ actions…
Rodrigo Constantino (https://t.me/tupireport/18805)
Michael Shellenberger (https://t.me/tupireport/16941)
Eduardo Bolsonaro (https://t.me/tupireport/21595)
Elon Musk (https://t.me/tupireport/16672) and
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski (https://t.me/tupireport/20983)
In closing, Figueiredo called on the U.S. Congress to:
Stop considering Interpol red notices when reviewing visa applications
Pressure Interpol to implement stricter standards to prevent political persecution
Create asylum exceptions for victims of transnational repression
Sanction Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Act
Pass specific legislation to treat transnational repression as a bipartisan priority
source (in Portuguese): https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/vida-e-cidadania/paulo-figueiredo-denuncia-repressao-transnacional-moraes-congresso-eua/ [archive]
VIDEO of Paulo’s Testimony
In English, Portuguese captions
VIDEO of Full Hearing
Webpage of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing June 2024
Transnational Repression: Trends and Policy Approaches
Date:
Tue, 06/24/2025 - 2:00 PM
Location:
1334 Longworth House Office Building
Hearing Notice
Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on trends in transnational repression and potential policy approaches to addressing this problem.
Transnational repression is receiving growing interest from policymakers and attention from researchers who monitor its expansion. The Department of Justice defines transnational repression (TNR) as a “range of tactics that foreign governments employ to reach beyond their borders to harm, intimidate, threaten, harass, or coerce individuals. Targeted victims of transnational repression often include political dissidents and activists, journalists, political opponents, religious and ethnic minority groups, and members of diaspora and exile communities.”
Transnational repression constitutes human rights violations that cross borders. It can be direct, through killings, abductions, enforced disappearances, and unlawful removals, or indirect, through tactics such as online harassment, digital surveillance, targeting of relatives, and the abuse of consular services. Thus, TNR can implicate human rights abuses by creating a chilling effect on individuals’ abilities to exercise their rights of freedom of expression and association. TNR can be done by government officials but also by non-state actors like political parties and proxies located in other countries.
This hearing will examine new developments and trends since the Commission’s last hearing on TNR in February 2024, including the use of financial institutions to try to silence criticism and dissent. The hearing will assess multilateral efforts to develop common definitions and coordinate responses, and how other governments are crafting institutional approaches to addressing TNR. It will also look at particular country cases, such as Pakistan, India, Hong Kong and China.
The hearing will be held in person and is open to Members of Congress, congressional staff, the media and the public. The public and the media may attend in person or view the hearing by live webcast on the Commission website. For questions, please contact Todd Stein
(for Co-Chair McGovern) or Mark Milosch
(for Co-Chair Smith).
Hosted by:
James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRCChris Smith
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC
Witnesses
Yana Gorokhovskaia, Research Director for Strategy and Design, Freedom House
Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President, Open Dialogue Foundation
Ahmad Noorani, Editor, Fact Focus
Ria Chakrabarty, Senior Policy Director, Hindus for Human Rights
Joey Siu, Spokesperson, Amnesty International
Hong Kong Overseas
Witness testimonyPaulo Figueiredo, Investigative Journalist
Witness testimony
Witness bios
Opening Remarks:
James P. McGovern, Co-Chair, TLHRC
Written remarksChris Smith, Co-Chair, TLHRC
[ archive of the TLHRC page ]