SAO PAULO — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice issued a ruling Friday placing a 30-day ban on visits to former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently confined to house arrest, permitting only medical staff and legal counsel to see him.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes determined that a social media post made by Senator Flavio Bolsonaro — the former president’s son and a candidate in October’s presidential race — had broken the terms of his father’s house arrest conditions.
The younger Bolsonaro shared a letter over the weekend, written by his father, in which the elder Bolsonaro urged supporters to move past any internal disagreements. In the letter, Jair Bolsonaro wrote that it was time “to set aside any differences, and have everyone commit to supporting” his son’s bid for the presidency.
Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced last year to more than 27 years behind bars after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government following his loss to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the 2022 presidential election. Under the terms of his humanitarian house arrest, which was granted this year due to health concerns, he is prohibited from using social media or a telephone, either directly or through other people acting on his behalf.
A legal representative for the former president had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the ruling.
Earlier in the week, Justice Moraes had already moved to block Senator Bolsonaro from visiting his father for a period of 90 days, also stemming from the letter incident. The senator described that earlier decision as an “attempt to interfere in the elections.”
Friday’s ruling went further, additionally prohibiting the former president from receiving any visits “with a political-electoral finality” through the conclusion of the elections, and barring him from issuing “political-electoral remarks” — including statements made through third parties on his behalf.
