Tyranny on Father’s Day: Criminals Get “Saidinha” While Bolsonaro Is Denied His Sons
By Hotspotnews
In Brazil today, thousands of convicted criminals—many serving time for serious crimes—enjoy temporary releases known as “saidinhas.” They leave prison to spend time with family during holidays like Father’s Day. Meanwhile, former President Jair Bolsonaro, confined to house arrest under a 27-year sentence, has been barred by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from receiving even a brief visit from his own sons this weekend.
Senator Flávio Bolsonaro captured the outrage perfectly: Moraes prohibited him and his brothers from seeing their father precisely on Father’s Day. “They took away his freedom. Now they want to take away even the right of a father to hug his children. This has a day and time to end!”
The facts are straightforward. Bolsonaro is under house arrest. After Flávio shared a letter written by his father, Moraes imposed sweeping restrictions: general social visits suspended for 30 days (except for doctors, physical therapists, and lawyers), and Flávio specifically banned for 90 days. The defense requested a limited, exceptional, humanitarian visit for Father’s Day—strictly family, no politics. Moraes denied it, citing the existing punishments.
Contrast this with the reality on Brazil’s streets and in its prisons. In the Federal District alone, more than 1,500 inmates in the semi-open regime received temporary release around Father’s Day. In Maranhão, over 950 were authorized to leave. Similar benefits continue in other states for those who meet the legal criteria under the Penal Execution Law. Many of these individuals have criminal records far more violent than any charge leveled in the political cases surrounding Bolsonaro. Some fail to return. Some reoffend. Yet the system still grants them the chance to sit at a family table.
This is selective justice. Ordinary prisoners retain basic human connections that the state recognizes as essential for rehabilitation and family bonds. A former president, living under electronic monitoring in his own home, is treated as a unique threat whose sons cannot cross the threshold on a day dedicated to fathers and children.
Conservatives have long warned about the concentration of power in the hands of unelected judges and the politicization of the judiciary. The pattern is clear: restrictions tighten whenever Bolsonaro or his family engage in political speech or communication. Visits with “political-electoral purpose” are banned until after the election. Communication through third parties is restricted. Family contact becomes a privilege revoked at the discretion of one minister.
Family is not a luxury to be rationed by the state. It is a foundational institution. Denying a father the chance to see his children on Father’s Day—while releasing convicted criminals for the same occasion—reveals a double standard that undermines public confidence in equal application of the law. Brazilians of good will, regardless of their view of the 2022 events, should recognize the danger in allowing any authority to treat political opponents as lesser beings whose basic human ties can be severed for political convenience.
The Brazilian people still value order, family, and fairness. When criminals walk free for holidays and a former president cannot embrace his sons, something has gone deeply wrong. That imbalance will not last forever.