Officials from Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) searched the residence of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro for weapons and ammunition on Wednesday — and found nothing.
The search was carried out on the order of Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who demanded a wide search of all firearms registered under Jair Bolsonaro’s name this week even though all of the firearms have been accounted for by Bolsonaro’s legal team.
De Moraes reportedly justified the search on the grounds that there was an alleged “discrepancy” between the number of firearms registered under Bolsonaro’s name and the number relinquished by the former president during the legal proceedings against him. The STF justice is widely known for being at the forefront of a persecution campaign against Bolsonaro and for executing a litany of judicial actions against the conservative former president and his family,
Bolsonaro is presently serving a 27-year prison sentence for “crimes against democracy” under a strict house arrest at his home in Brasília. The former president, who suffers from multiple health conditions, was granted temporary humanitarian house arrest provisions this year after a severe case of bacterial pneumonia sent him to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Despite the justice’s assertions, Brazilian lawyer João Henrique Nascimento de Freitas, who is part of Bolsonaro’s legal team, announced on social media that no firearms were found by the police during the search at the residence.
“I have just left President Jair Bolsonaro’s residence after accompanying yet another Federal Police search-and-seizure operation ordered by Justice Alexandre de Moraes,” the Portuguese-language message read. “The warrant sought weapons, ammunition, accessories, and registration documents. The defense had already previously disclosed the whereabouts of all the weapons.
“Result: nothing was found. It is regrettable that a former President of the Republic is still subjected to this type of action,” he concluded.
Hellbound and Down 