Brazil’s Supreme Court is weighing whether Jair Bolsonaro should remain under temporary humanitarian house arrest after police seized a Glock 9mm pistol registered to the former president from one of his security aides during a traffic stop in Brasília.
The case reached Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Federal Court justice overseeing Bolsonaro’s sentence, just as a 90-day period of house arrest was due to expire on June 25. Moraes gave Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet 48 hours to comment on whether the episode could affect the continuation of the measure, and said Bolsonaro’s defense would then have another 48 hours to respond.
Bolsonaro has been serving a sentence of 27 years and three months in an attempted-coup case. He has been under temporary house arrest since March 27, after his lawyers argued that health problems made a return to prison unsafe. Under the conditions described by Agência Brasil and Congresso em Foco, he must remain at home, wears an electronic ankle monitor, faces limits on visitors and is barred from using cellphones or social media, including through third parties.
The Traffic Stop
The pistol was seized on the night of June 15 with Estácio Leite da Silva Filho, an Army second sergeant who works on Bolsonaro’s security detail, after a Military Police stop in the Federal District. Sources identify the weapon as a Glock 9mm registered to Bolsonaro. Jornal de Brasília reported that the stop occurred in Taguatinga; O Tempo reported that the aide was about 33 kilometers, or roughly 20 miles, from the house where Bolsonaro was serving the sentence.
Accounts cited by Brasil Paralelo say the pistol was found on the floor of the car and that a police officer reported the driver abruptly closing the window after the weapon was noticed. Congresso em Foco reported that the gun had regular documentation but was collected because the firearm registration certificate was not in the vehicle. The vehicle’s driver told police the weapon had been handed over because of a malfunction.
Bolsonaro gave a statement to the Civil Police of the Federal District at his home on June 23. Brasil Paralelo said police stayed for about 40 minutes and that, according to the defense, Bolsonaro’s own questioning lasted about five minutes. His lawyers say he confirmed the pistol was his and repeated that he had asked the aide to check or repair it after noticing a problem.
Moraes Seeks Views
Moraes asked why Bolsonaro kept a firearm at home, including a spare magazine, and why he sought repairs near the end of the 90-day house-arrest period, according to the reports. Revista Oeste said Moraes cited the possibility of a “serious misconduct” issue under Brazil’s Penal Execution Law, while also saying the adversarial process and full defense rights had to be respected before any conclusion.
The justice also asked the Military Police unit responsible for security around Bolsonaro’s residence to explain whether cars leaving the house were being searched. Brasil Paralelo reported that the police said they inspect cabins and trunks of vehicles leaving the residence, but that cars used by security personnel stay parked on a public road and do not enter the garage, so they are not searched.
Bolsonaro’s defense denies wrongdoing. Lawyers say the firearm was properly registered, that there was no order canceling its registration, and that the weapon left the house only so a malfunction could be identified and repaired. They also told the Supreme Court that members of the security team had removed the firing pin without Bolsonaro’s prior knowledge to make the weapon inoperable, citing concern over his psychiatric condition and medication that could affect cognition.
Prosecutor Urges Caution
Gonet told Moraes on June 25 that the seizure did not, at that stage, indicate a disciplinary violation by Bolsonaro, according to O Tempo. The prosecutor general said a finding of serious misconduct required more than fitting the facts to a legal rule and depended on assessing the impact of any unlawful conduct on the purpose of sentence enforcement.
Gonet recommended waiting for the investigation into the episode before reaching a conclusion on the house-arrest issue. Moraes is expected to decide whether to keep Bolsonaro at home, change the conditions or order another form of sentence enforcement after receiving the prosecutor’s view and the defense’s response.