Brazil Court Chief Closes 3 Fake News Probes

BRAZIL · JUSTICE

Brazil’s top court has closed three probes tied to its long-running fake news inquiry. One concerns a Bolsonaro son the court convicted of coercion over his US sanctions lobbying.

Brazil’s chief justice, Edson Fachin, closed three investigations linked to the so-called fake news inquiry on Tuesday, 27 October 2026. The inquiry is a long-running Supreme Federal Court (STF) probe of attacks on the court and its judges, opened in March 2019.

One of the three concerned Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former federal deputy and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The court convicted him of coercion in a proceeding, after prosecutors cited his public claims of lobbying the US government for sanctions.

For US readers, the decisions matter because the court’s case against Eduardo centred on his claimed lobbying of Washington. Washington put Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the inquiry’s former lead judge, on its sanctions list in 2025 and later removed him.

What Fachin Decided on Each Case

Fachin archived the inquiry into Eduardo Bolsonaro because, with a criminal case now decided, its investigative purpose had ended, the STF says. That decision, on inquiry number 4995, is dated Monday, 26 October.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office (PGR), the federal prosecutor, asked to close the probe into Silas Malafaia, an evangelical pastor. It said the evidence was not enough to confirm his involvement in alleged coercion, and Fachin accepted.

Fachin revoked the restrictions on Malafaia and ordered any seized property returned. Fachin noted the STF’s settled view that courts should, as a rule, accept a prosecutor’s request to archive.

The third case involved Guilherme Fiúza, a journalist and writer investigated for alleged incitement to crime. Fachin ruled that the time limit for that charge had expired, as the last conduct cited was in 2022.

That last conduct was on Saturday, 17 December 2022, and the limit is three years. The charge itself was therefore not decided on its merits.

The PGR found no minimal evidence for the second accusation, an alleged attempt to violently abolish the democratic order. The STF says asset and movement restrictions on Fiúza were lifted.

The Eduardo Bolsonaro Conviction

The STF’s First Panel, a chamber, unanimously convicted Eduardo Bolsonaro on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, of coercion in a proceeding. It sentenced him to 4 years and 2 months in the semi-open regime, where convicts may work outside.

Prosecutors said he publicly claimed he lobbied the US government to sanction Brazilian authorities, including STF justices, and to hit Brazil economically. His court-appointed public defender argued that this was political articulation protected as speech, not coercion.

He is barred from office until eight years after finishing his sentence and loses his post as a Federal Police clerk. The STF says he did not update his address and was abroad in an unknown location.

After appeals were rejected, the conviction became final on Saturday, 3 October 2026. Paulo Figueiredo, charged with him, is handled in a separate inquiry, number 5017.

Why the Inquiry Is Being Wound Down

Fachin took the fake news inquiry away from Moraes in September, moving it to the court presidency under administrative order 189/2026. Moraes had led it since Dias Toffoli, then court president, opened it in March 2019.

Fachin has said he intends to archive the whole inquiry once outstanding matters are checked. Press reports say he has identified 108 procedures linked to it.

Toffoli said it was needed to counter news attacking the honor and security of the court, its judges and families. It ran for more than seven years before Fachin moved to wind it down.

The US Sanctions Link

The US Treasury’s sanctions office, OFAC, designated Moraes under its Global Magnitsky human-rights sanctions program on Wednesday, 30 July 2025. It removed him, his wife Viviane Barci de Moraes and a related institute on Friday, 12 December 2025.

The court convicted Eduardo of coercion in his father’s trial, and it did not judge any act by Washington. The STF’s Tuesday note does not mention the US government, and no new US measure was announced.

What It Means for US Readers

The decisions show Brazil’s court settling cases linked to the 2025 US-Brazil dispute. They also show a court under Fachin closing files that Moraes handled.

For investors, nothing in the rulings changes tariffs or sanctions. The legal path of the Bolsonaro family may stay a political topic for US relations with Brazil.

What Prediction Markets Say

Polymarket, a US real-money betting platform, prices Moraes leaving the Supreme Court in 2026 at 7.5% (28 October, 3:28 a.m. ET). The best bid was 7 cents and the best ask 8 cents.

The contract has traded about US$258,000 in total. The platform data show the price down about 4 points in a week.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

What Is Not Known

It is not known when Fachin will formally close the whole inquiry, or whether sealed files will be made public. The STF notes give no date.

The STF notes do not say where Eduardo Bolsonaro lives or whether Brazil will seek his arrest abroad. Malafaia still faces a separate insult case, opened on 28 April 2026, which these decisions do not mention.

What Comes Next

Fachin has said he will check outstanding matters before archiving the whole inquiry. Closing it would not erase convictions already final, such as Eduardo Bolsonaro’s.

Paulo Figueiredo’s case continues separately. Further closures, if any, would be published by the STF.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Brazil’s fake news inquiry?

It is a Supreme Federal Court investigation opened in March 2019 into attacks on the court and its judges. Then court president Dias Toffoli opened it, and Fachin now plans to close it.

Who is Eduardo Bolsonaro?

He is a former federal deputy and a son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The court convicted him of coercion in June 2026.

What did Eduardo Bolsonaro do wrong, according to the court?

The court found he acted to interfere in his father’s coup trial, citing his public claims of lobbying Washington for sanctions. His defender argued this was protected political speech.

Did Brazil clear Silas Malafaia?

Fachin closed the coercion probe at the prosecutor’s request, as the evidence did not confirm involvement. A separate insult case against him, opened in April, is not covered.

Is Alexandre de Moraes still under US sanctions?

No, he is not. The US Treasury removed him from its sanctions list on 12 December 2025, according to its notice.

Sources: Supreme Federal Court, news note on the archiving decisions (27 October 2026); Supreme Federal Court, conviction of Eduardo Bolsonaro (16 June 2026); Supreme Federal Court, Malafaia insult case (28 April 2026); US Treasury OFAC, Global Magnitsky designation (30 July 2025); US Treasury OFAC, Global Magnitsky removals (12 December 2025) (all accessed 28 October 2026).

More on Brazil is on the Brazil news hub. Related: Fachin moves to close the fake news probe, why Bolsonaro allies cry persecution and the request to trace Bolsonaro film money.