emboldened by new powers the court granted itself in 2019 that allow it to, in effect, act as an investigator, prosecutor and judge all at once in some cases.

Dias Toffoli, the Supreme Court justice who created those powers, said in a statement that he did so to protect the nation’s democracy: “Brazil lives with the same incitement to hatred that took lives in the U.S. Capitol invasion, and democratic institutions must do everything possible to avoid scenarios like Jan. 6, 2021, which shocked the world.

"We stripped away your rights in order to protect democracy."