Brazilian lawyer convicted of racism after calling for Jews to be removed from leadership

NOVEMBER 7, 2026 09:01A court in Rio de Janeiro has convicted a Brazilian lawyer of racism after he called for Jews to be removed from leadership positions at the Brazilian Lawyers Institute (IAB) and for the local Jewish federation to be shut down.Heriberto de Miranda Jordão Filho was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison under Brazil’s open prison regime, but the court replaced the sentence with community service, meaning he will not serve time behind bars, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported Thursday. He has said he will appeal.The case stems from a March 20, 2024, meeting of the institute, a professional legal association founded in 1843 and considered one of the oldest legal institutions in the Americas.Filho calls for removal of Jews from Brazilian Lawyers Institute leadership, shutdown of Jewish FederationDuring the meeting, which was streamed on YouTube, Jordão Filho read a letter demanding that all Jews, both Zionist and non-Zionist, be removed from the institute’s leadership and as chairs of its committees. He argued that religious Jews had no place in the institute and demanded their removal because of their religious affiliation. His remarks sparked an uproar within the institute and Brazil’s Jewish community.Illustrative image of a court gavel. (credit: ANN MARIE GILDEN)In the same address, he called for the Jewish Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FIERJ) to be shut down. The demand followed a complaint the federation had filed against him with the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) over earlier antisemitic remarks.Jordão Filho accused the federation of political, ideological and religious persecution. He claimed it was an antidemocratic organization whose members included “fascists, evangelicals and Bolsonaro supporters,” referring to former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. He also called Jews who opposed him cowards and perpetrators of genocide and compared Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip to Nazi crimes.Brazil’s Jewish community strongly condemned the remarks and demanded action against him. Claudio Lottenberg, president of the Brazilian Jewish Confederation (CONIB), welcomed the opening of disciplinary proceedings against Jordão Filho and said antisemitism had risen in Brazil and worldwide since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.Lottenberg called for a firm response and said the Jewish community expected a severe penalty for the hateful remarks made by an institute member.The institute also condemned the remarks and opened disciplinary proceedings against Jordão Filho. Its president at the time, Sydney Limeira Sanches, suspended his membership rights pending the outcome. The Brazilian Bar Association said it would not allow antisemitism and other expressions of hatred to spread among the country’s lawyers.On April 16, 2024, prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro state charged Jordão Filho with racism. Prosecutor Alexandre Themistocles determined that his remarks went beyond political criticism and constituted incitement to discrimination and harm against Jews because of their religion and ancestry.Prosecutors stressed that calling for Jewish officials to be dismissed from their positions at the institute because of their identity constituted incitement to racism and exceeded the free speech protections in Brazil’s constitution.Judge rules Filho went beyond legitimate political criticism of IsraelIn his ruling, Judge Paulo Roberto Sampaio Jangutta found that Jordão Filho had gone beyond legitimate political criticism of Israel by attributing negative traits to Jews and calling for their exclusion from positions in a professional institution because of their identity.In addition to the prison sentence replaced by community service, the judge imposed a fine calculated at 10 daily units and ordered Jordão Filho to pay 3,000 Brazilian reais (NIS 1,740) in compensation for collective moral harm.The court also upheld restrictions requiring him to report to the court monthly, barring him from contacting Jewish members of the institute and limiting his online posts mentioning Jews.The Rio Jewish federation and the Brazilian Jewish Confederation participated in the proceedings in support of the prosecution. Jordão Filho said he intends to appeal the conviction.Follow us on Google