Court bars political use of visits ahead of Oct. 25 runoff
Brazil’s Supreme Court cleared Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro on Monday to resume visiting his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, after a 90-day suspension on those visits expired Sunday. Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the authorization after the defense team filed an Oct. 5 request.
Visits had been suspended July 17 after Flávio Bolsonaro publicly read a letter of support from his father during a YouTube livestream — a violation of restrictions imposed on the former president.
Federal prosecutors supported the resumption in a Tuesday filing, finding no evidence of further violations of the court’s conditions and no reason to extend the suspension, according to Brazilian outlets G1 and Folha de S.Paulo.
The court order prohibits the visits from being used for political or electoral purposes, in an effort to limit the former president’s influence on the election. It also bars Jair Bolsonaro from distributing statements or manifestos through third parties or social media.
Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year prison sentence under house arrest at his residence in Brasilia for health reasons, following a trial overseen by Justice de Moraes. Political analysts view the renewed access to his father as a symbolic boost for Flávio Bolsonaro’s supporters.
The ruling comes in the final stretch of the presidential campaign, ahead of the Oct. 25 runoff election in which Flávio Bolsonaro — who led the first round with 47% of the vote — faces incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Liberal Party candidate has said that, if elected, he intends to pardon his father after taking office Jan. 5 and seek the removal of de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice who oversaw his father’s trial.