Flávia Cordeiro Magalhães is a Brazilian with U.S. citizenship. She has resided for 22 years in Pompano Beach, a city near Miami. There, Flávia married and had her only son, who is currently 18 years old. She says that her account on X was blocked in Brazil by order of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The judicial decision was motivated by a publication made on U.S. soil in 2022. Without being officially notified, Flávia continued posting on social media, which led to the decree of her pre-trial detention, under the allegation of disobeying a court order. “In December 2023, upon entering Brazil through Recife Airport, with my U.S. passport, I was informed that my Brazilian passport was under restriction,” she told Oeste.
Moraes interpreted that Flávia Magalhães used a false passport to enter Brazil
Despite her entry and exit having occurred legally, Moraes interpreted the situation as the use of a false document, aggravating her judicial situation. “I was informed that, in February 2024, the Supreme Court (STF) decreed my pre-trial detention,” said the Brazilian.
She is represented in Brazil by lawyer Paulo Faria, the same defender of former Congressman Daniel Silveira. The defense requested access to the case files, but the requests were repeatedly denied. “I challenged the legality of the action,” she said. “I argued that she was never served with any judicial decision, but none of that had any effect.”
Paulo Faria states that the arbitrariness of his client’s case does not stop there. “The arrest warrant includes her name both on her U.S. passport and on her Brazilian passport,” he said. “The judicial decision raises questions about U.S. sovereignty, given that a citizen of the United States is being persecuted on foreign soil for expressing political opinions.”
U.S. Judiciary Vetoes Moraes’ Entry into the U.S.
On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, U.S. congressmen discussed the imposition of sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes. There are currently three measures against the magistrate under discussion in the U.S. Congress.
One of them was approved on that same day by the Judiciary Committee. The proposal establishes a veto on Moraes’ entry into the U.S. and is called “No Censor on Our Shores Act”. The bill will still need to pass through the plenary of the House of Representatives and the Senate before being sanctioned by the White House.
The accusation of using a false document is disproved by the official documentation. Records from the Federal Police prove that Flávia entered and left Brazil legally. The arrest warrant suggests that the publication on X, on U.S. soil, was considered a crime by Brazilian authorities — a dangerous precedent for freedom of speech.
Defense Seeks Revocation of Arrest and Access to Case Files
The defense seeks revocation of the arrest and access to the case files. The U.S. embassy is following the case. U.S. congressmen are evaluating the inclusion of Flávia’s case in debates about freedom of speech and political persecution.
Paulo Faria argues that the continuation of pre-trial detention without access to the case files reinforces the thesis that the decision has political motivation. “The defense continues to press for the revision of the arrest and for the transparency of the process, while the opposition to the Brazilian government denounces the censorship and the persecution of dissenting voices,” he concluded.
