Brazil’s Supreme Court on Friday extended the humanitarian house arrest of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup, while simultaneously revoking his gun licence and ordering the seizure of all firearms registered in his name. Justice Alexandre de Moraes gave the defence 48 hours to deliver ten weapons — including pistols, carbines and shotguns, most of restricted calibres — to the federal police in Brasília. The ruling maintains the home detention that began in March for an initial 90-day period but sets no new expiry date, leaving the measure in place indefinitely under the same strict conditions.

According to the court’s decision, medical reports submitted by the defence show clinical improvement in the bronchopneumonia that prompted the transfer from prison, yet the 71-year-old’s age and comorbidities make the home environment the most suitable for preserving his health. The Prosecutor-General’s Office (PGR) supported the extension, arguing that no serious disciplinary infraction had been committed in connection with a pistol found with a security agent during a traffic stop in June. Defence lawyers maintained that the weapon was legally registered and had been sent for repair, and that Bolsonaro had no interest in reclaiming it. The police investigation did not indict the former president, indicting only the military sergeant who was carrying the firearm.

Moraes concluded, however, that Bolsonaro’s status as a convicted prisoner is incompatible with firearm possession, a position also advanced by the PGR. The ruling cancels his collector, sport shooter and hunter (CAC) registration and mandates the immediate surrender of the arsenal. Bolsonaro remains under electronic ankle monitoring, prohibited from using telephones or social media, and may receive only court-authorised visitors. Any breach of the conditions, the justice warned, will result in the immediate revocation of house arrest and return to a closed prison regime.

Bolsonaro was convicted in September 2025 of leading a criminal organisation that sought to overturn the 2022 election, which he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He was initially held in a federal police facility, then moved in January 2026 to a special cell in the Papuda prison complex, before being granted temporary house arrest in March after hospitalisation. The decision comes as Brazil prepares for an October presidential election in which Lula seeks a fourth non-consecutive term and Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, is the main opposition candidate. Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to free his father and to pursue the impeachment of Supreme Court justices if elected. The court has not indicated when it will next review the house arrest order.