Brazil’s Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that could dramatically reduce the prison term of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, setting up an expected presidential veto and a fresh clash with Congress.
The measure, which changes how sentences are calculated for certain crimes, passed the upper chamber 48-25 after clearing the lower house last week. It now goes to President Lula, who has vowed to reject it, saying Bolsonaro “must pay” for his crimes. Lawmakers can override a veto.
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Bolsonaro, 70, began serving a 27-year sentence in November. Under current rules, he was expected to spend at least eight years behind bars before becoming eligible for a looser regime. The new legislation could cut that to a little over two years, according to its proponents.
The vote underscored Brazil’s continuing polarization and sparked new street demonstrations. Protesters in cities across the country chanted “no amnesty,” with banners declaring “Congress, enemy of the people.”
In the Senate, centrist Renan Calheiros denounced the process as a “farce,” walking out and accusing some government allies of allowing the vote in exchange for backing a budget initiative in a backroom deal. Lawmakers who supported the bill rejected that characterization.
Paulinho da Força, a legislator and the bill’s author, defended the move as a “gesture of reconciliation” in a country still riven by the events surrounding the transition of power. Senators amended the text to narrow its scope after concerns it might inadvertently ease punishment for a wider array of crimes.
As amended, the bill is tailored to benefit those convicted in connection with the coup plot case and more than 100 Bolsonaro supporters imprisoned over the January 2023 riots that ransacked Brazil’s seats of power in Brasília days after Lula took office.
Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro—whom the former president has positioned as the right’s standard-bearer for the 2026 race—had pressed colleagues to “address this issue once and for all.” Former justice minister and now Senator Sergio Moro praised the effort for managing “to get those people out of prison, which is the most important thing right now.”
Lula’s allies reiterated the president’s intent. “This bill is destined to be vetoed,” said Senator Randolfe Rodrigues of the Workers’ Party, while acknowledging Congress has the final say if it musters the votes to override.
Bolsonaro’s conviction stems from a scheme to prevent Lula from taking office after a razor-thin 2022 election that laid bare Brazil’s political divides. Prosecutors say the plot included plans to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, but ultimately failed because it lacked support from military high command.
Since his arrest, Bolsonaro has been held in a special room at a police facility in Brasília. His detention followed a tumultuous period under house arrest when he tampered with his ankle monitor, using a soldering iron, according to authorities.
The Senate’s action now shifts the political battle to the presidency, and potentially back to Congress if Lula follows through on his promised veto. The outcome will test the fragile equilibrium between branches of government and the appetite of lawmakers to revisit punishments tied to one of Brazil’s most consequential political crises in decades.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
