São Paulo.- Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, under house arrest for coup-mongering, denied this Wednesday, through his lawyers, having violated the precautionary measure that prevents him from using social media directly or through third parties.
“Bolsonaro has strictly complied with all the conditions imposed for his house arrest for humanitarian reasons, especially the prohibition on using communication devices, social networks, or disseminating statements through third parties,” the defense noted in a document sent to the Supreme Court.
The former president’s lawyers spoke out at the request of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who demanded explanations after Bolsonaro’s eldest son and presidential candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro, read a letter written by his father on his social media last Saturday.
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“The defense clarifies, categorically, that the petitioner (Jair Bolsonaro) never knew that the letter would be disseminated publicly, nor was there any prior guidance, agreement, or coordination regarding the use of social media for that purpose,” stated the far-right leader’s legal team.
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The judge banned Flávio Bolsonaro’s visits
Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced on September 11, 2025, to 27 years in prison for an attempted coup d’état against the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is serving his sentence at his home in Brasília for health reasons, but under a series of restrictions.
One of them is the prohibition of using social media directly or indirectly, that is, through a third party.
In this context, Flávio Bolsonaro, second in the polls for the presidential elections in October, just behind Lula, read a letter from his father last Saturday during a live broadcast on his social media.
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In the letter, written in his own hand, the former head of state (2019-2022) reaffirmed his support for his eldest son’s candidacy and asked to “put differences aside,” amidst tensions within the Bolsonaro family over the October elections.
Two days later, De Moraes banned Flávio from visiting his father Jair for 90 days and gave the far-right leader’s lawyers a 48-hour deadline to clarify whether he knew the document was going to be released.
Jair Bolsonaro’s other letters
According to the magistrate, the reading of the letter violated the prohibition against Jair disseminating messages through social media, even through third parties, and “suggests” that he had “full knowledge” that the letter was going to be spread on the internet.
However, Jair Bolsonaro’s lawyers stressed this Wednesday that the fact that the letter was “subsequently disseminated on social media was due to a decision made without the prior knowledge” of their client.
They recalled that the 71-year-old former ruler has written other letters to other recipients during his period of confinement without this having constituted a violation of the conditions of his house arrest.
Jair Bolsonaro “has faithfully complied with the precautionary measures since the beginning of the house arrest regime for humanitarian reasons, and commits to continue rigorously observing all the conditions established by this court,” they stated.
