Insider

Supreme Court pushes government on far-right blogger extradition

Vicente Santini blogger
Vinicius Santini, the National Justice Secretary, and President Bolsonaro. Photo: Twitter/@VicenteSantini

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes gave the Jair Bolsonaro administration five days to provide information on the progress of an extradition request for alt-right Brazilian blogger Allan dos Santos, who is a fugitive of justice.

Justice Moraes’s order is directed at National Justice Secretary Vicente Santini, ordering him to detail the measures adopted to comply with a preventive arrest warrant issued in October.

As The Brazilian Report has shown, Mr. Santini — a close ally of President Jair Bolsonaro’s sons — tried to interfere politically in the extradition request to the U.S.  On October 26, Mr. Santini sent a memo informing the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation (DRCI) that any extradition request would need his approval before being issued.

Just five days before Mr. Santini sent the document, the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of Mr. Dos Santos, and his extradition from the U.S. After finding out that the Justice Ministry had already processed the extradition request, the government fired Federal Marshal Sílvia Amélia Fonseca de Oliveira as head of the DRCI.