BOGOTA, Colombia

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is presiding over the coup trial against former President Jair Bolsonaro, vowed Friday to "ignore" US sanctions against him. 

Speaking at the opening of the judiciary's second semester, Moraes declared that the trial's "procedural course will not be accelerated or delayed" in the face of external pressure, and pledged that "all those responsible" for the coup plot would be judged by the court.

He said he would "ignore the sanctions that have been applied and continue working as he has," asserting that he would not be deterred by "the lies, the falsehoods, and the social media disinformation."

"National sovereignty cannot, should not, and will never be vilified, negotiated, or extorted," he said.

Moraes' statement followed the US government's announcement Wednesday that it was imposing sanctions on him. The US alleged that he had suppressed freedom of expression and authorized arbitrary arrests in the ongoing trial of former President Bolsonaro.

The sanctions were applied under the Global Magnitsky Act, a US law that allows for economic penalties against foreign individuals with a record of corruption or human rights abuses.

This move effectively freezes any potential assets Moraes holds in the US and prohibits American citizens and companies from doing business with him.

Bolsonaro is accused of orchestrating a plot to stay in power after his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

US President Donald Trump has linked new tariffs on Brazilian imports to what he calls a "witch-hunt" against his right-wing ally, the former Brazilian president. Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports, a move Moraes asserted is part of an "illegal and immoral" ruse to obstruct justice.

Moraes claimed that these tariffs and the "spurious" sanctions against him were engineered by a group of Brazilian "traitors." He accused them of lobbying foreign authorities to carry out "hostile acts" against the country's economy, intending to create "an economic crisis that would create a social and then a political crisis."

President Lula has previously accused Bolsonaro of sending his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, to the US to solicit tariff threats from Trump as a form of political intervention.