File photo: Workers’ Party candidate Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (R) debate Oct. 16, 2022 in Sao Paulo. Alexandre Schneider / Getty Images
Brazil’s Senate has approved legislation that could sharply reduce the prison sentence of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, convicted over an alleged coup plot after his 2022 election defeat, in a move that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to veto.
Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to slash the prison term of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup after losing re-election to left-winger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Passed by the lower chamber last week, the bill now heads to Lula, whose expected veto could eventually be overridden by Congress.
Bolsonaro, 70, began a 27-year prison sentence in November and, under current rules, was expected to serve at least eight years behind bars before becoming eligible for a looser regime.
The new legislation, which changes how sentences are calculated for certain crimes, could, however, see Bolsonaro serve a little over two years in prison.
Following months of jockeying by Bolsonaro’s supporters in Congress for some form of amnesty, the bill moved surprisingly quickly through both the conservative-controlled lower chamber and the more evenly balanced Senate.
Bolsonaro’s oldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro – whom the former president has anointed as the candidate of the right in the 2026 elections – had called on the upper chamber to “address this issue once and for all”.
The bill provoked protests in cities across Brazil on Sunday, where demonstrators chanted “no amnesty” and held up banners reading: “Congress, enemy of the people.”
Though political forces are more evenly balanced in the Senate, the bill was approved 48–25.
Centrist Senator Renan Calheiros slammed the vote as a “farce” and walked out of the session, accusing the government’s allies in parliament of allowing the vote to take place in exchange for support for a budget initiative as part of a backroom deal.
‘Must pay’ for his crimes
The author of the legislation, lawmaker Paulinho da Forca, said it was a “gesture of reconciliation” in a polarised country.
Senators amended the wording of the bill to limit its scope after fears it could ease punishment for a wide range of criminals.
It is specifically aimed at benefiting those convicted as part of the coup plot, as well as more than 100 Bolsonaro supporters imprisoned for their role in the January 2023 riots against seats of government in Brasilia, shortly after Lula took office.
Senator Sergio Moro, Bolsonaro’s former justice minister, welcomed the fact that the bill would manage “to get those people out of prison, which is the most important thing right now”.
Bolsonaro is serving his sentence in a special room at a police facility in the capital, Brasilia, following a dramatic start to his jail term when he took a soldering iron to his ankle monitoring bracelet while under house arrest.
Lula has vowed to veto the bill, saying Bolsonaro “must pay” for his crimes.
“This bill is destined to be vetoed” by Lula, said Senator Randolfe Rodrigues of Lula’s leftist Workers’ Party (PT).
However, Congress has the final word and can overturn the president’s veto.
Bolsonaro was convicted over a scheme to prevent Lula from taking office after his razor-thin loss in the bitter 2022 election, which highlighted deep political divisions in Brazil.
The plot allegedly involved plans to assassinate Lula, his vice-president Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Prosecutors said the scheme failed because it lacked the support of the military’s top brass.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)