Court bars Flavio Bolsonaro from visiting his father for 90 days
Brazil’s Supreme Court imposed the ban after Jair Bolsonaro’s handwritten message was read during a livestream, according to Al Jazeera.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Brazil’s Supreme Court has blocked Senator Flavio Bolsonaro from visiting his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, for 90 days, Al Jazeera and news agencies reported. The order cuts off direct family access during most of the presidential campaign, with the first round of voting set for October 4.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the ruling on Monday after Flavio Bolsonaro read a handwritten note from his father during a livestream on social media, according to the report. The court found that the episode violated conditions attached to Jair Bolsonaro’s house arrest.
Jair Bolsonaro is barred from using social media or passing messages through other people while he serves his sentence at home, Al Jazeera reported. The Supreme Court also gave his lawyers 48 hours to say whether he knew the letter would be shared online.
Letter at center of court order
In the message, Jair Bolsonaro urged political allies to put aside internal disputes and back Flavio Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign, according to Al Jazeera. Flavio, a senator, is described in the report as the leading conservative contender against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The 90-day ban will keep Flavio Bolsonaro from meeting his father until after the first round of the election. The restriction adds a new legal hurdle for a campaign built in part around the former president’s standing with Brazil’s right.
Flavio Bolsonaro called the decision “disproportionate” and accused Moraes, vice president of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, of trying to affect the election, Al Jazeera reported. A lawyer for the Bolsonaro campaign called the ruling “illegal and unconstitutional,” arguing that it infringed on Flavio Bolsonaro’s rights as both a son and one of his father’s lawyers.
Former president remains under house arrest
Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former president, was convicted in September 2025 of plotting to overturn the 2022 election result after losing to Lula, according to Al Jazeera and news agencies. He received a sentence of more than 27 years in prison.
After that election, Bolsonaro supporters rioted and stormed government buildings in January 2023 in what Al Jazeera described as an attempted insurrection. The former president has not conceded defeat in the 2022 race and has said he was denied a fair trial.
Following his conviction, the court allowed Jair Bolsonaro to serve his sentence under house arrest because of health concerns, according to the report. He remains politically influential on the Brazilian right and has endorsed Flavio, his eldest son, as his successor.
Flavio Bolsonaro’s campaign has also faced other difficulties in recent months, Al Jazeera reported. Those include scrutiny over his links to a banker tied to a major financial scandal and a public dispute with his stepmother, former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.