SAO PAULO, July 13 (Reuters) – Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes barred presidential hopeful Senator Flavio Bolsonaro from visiting his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, for 90 days, a court decision showed on Monday.
Moraes ruled that a letter written by the ex-president and shared by the senator on social media over the weekend breached the terms of Jair Bolsonaro’s house arrest.
The ban could be a setback for the younger Bolsonaro’s plans to run against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s presidential election later this year, with the first round scheduled for October 4 and a potential runoff for October 25.
Moraes said in his decision that the house arrest’s terms included a ban on social media use, directly or through third parties.
The former president’s letter came amid a rift between Senator Bolsonaro and his stepmother, former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro. In it, the ex-president said it was time “to set aside any differences, and have everyone commit to supporting” his son’s presidential run.
Representatives for former President Jair Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Senator Rogerio Marinho, coordinator of Senator Bolsonaro’s pre-campaign, called Moraes’ decision “authoritarian” and “disproportionate,” saying it effectively seeks to cut the former president off from communication.
The ex-president was sentenced last year to over 27 years in prison for plotting a coup against Lula after losing the 2022 election. He was later placed under house arrest on health grounds.
Moraes also gave the older Bolsonaro’s legal team 48 hours to clarify whether he was aware that his letter would be posted on social media by his son.
(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes, Andre Romani and Victoria Pacheco in Sao Paulo; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Mark Porter)
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