Police Search Bolsonaro's House Arrest Residence for Weapons, Find Nothing

Brazilian federal police conducted a search at the residence where former President Jair Bolsonaro is currently under house arrest, looking for unregistered firearms. The operation, ordered by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, concluded without the discovery of any weapons.

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They didn't find anything.

Bolsonaro, 71, is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup following his 2022 election loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He has been under house arrest in Brasília since March for health reasons, a benefit that Justice Moraes recently renewed. However, Moraes stipulated that Bolsonaro's continued house arrest is contingent upon the surrender of all firearms registered in his name.

The search occurred one day after Bolsonaro's legal team informed the Supreme Court about the whereabouts of two firearms that had not yet been located by the Federal Police. According to the defense, all ten registered firearms belonging to the former president are now either in the custody of public agencies or their locations have been disclosed to authorities.

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There was no reason for the search, considering that we had already informed the whereabouts of absolutely all the president's weapons.

Justice Moraes deemed the defense's explanation regarding one specific shotgun, reportedly stored in Rio Grande do Sul, as "inconsistent" with existing records and lacking documentary proof. This discrepancy, along with a general mismatch between registered and surrendered weapons, prompted the search. Bolsonaro's lawyer, João Henrique Nascimento de Freitas, stated that the police found nothing and expressed regret over the action, calling it "lamentable that a former president of the republic continues to be the object of this type of action."

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It is lamentable that a former president of the republic continues to be the object of this type of action.