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Brazil’s Congress voted Thursday to override President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s veto and adopt a bill that would cut former President Jair Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup, a development that sets up a new legal fight over sentencing rules and reverberates through Brazil’s political race before October’s presidential election.
The legislation passed by lawmakers reduces prison terms for several crimes, including those against the democratic rule of law and leading a coup, according to the bill’s language described in the report. It also specifies that, when a person is convicted on multiple counts, the sentence should be based only on the count carrying the highest prison term.
The outcome marks another defeat for Lula in Congress, AP reported, and it arrives as Brazil’s presidential election campaign unfolds. It also comes after lawmakers in recent months debated whether sentencing should be recalculated for Bolsonaro, who began serving the 27-year term in November and is currently under house arrest.
In Congress, the conservative opposition built support among centrist lawmakers to comfortably override Lula’s veto of a similar measure adopted last year. Before the vote, AP reported, Bolsonaro supporters expressed confidence in the outcome even before voting began, and speakers on Thursday described the move as the first step toward broader political relief.
Sen. Espiridião Amin, described in the story as a Bolsonaro ally, said, “This is a first and much awaited step for those who are afflicted. The next stage is full amnesty,” according to AP. The bill’s supporters argued it would apply in a way that could broaden the benefits beyond Bolsonaro, including for others sentenced in connection with the Jan. 8, 2023, attack on government buildings in Brasilia, which lawmakers and allies said mirrored the U.S. Capitol assault two years earlier.
The bill’s critics said the measure would not survive court review. Pedro Uczai, the Workers’ Party whip in Brazil’s lower house, said he would appeal to Brazil’s Supreme Court to annul the legislation, arguing it was unconstitutional; AP reported that the court has yet to receive his complaint.
Ahead of the override vote, AP reported that the Senate president said only cases similar to ones that led to convictions in the attempted coup trial involving Bolsonaro and his allies and supporters would be eligible for the softer penalties. Legal experts cited in the report said that interpretation would likely be questioned in court.
AP reported that political allies of Lula framed the vote as an attempt to protect people facing federal police investigations. Lawmaker Lindberg Farias said, “They want to release Bolsonaro, his jailed generals and stop federal police investigations that implicate them,” and added, “This is a day of infamy,” according to the report. Lula himself was described as having not yet made public comments about the congressional defeats.
On the question of how much prison time Bolsonaro would actually serve under the revised framework, AP reported that it was unclear how much time he will serve. Still, the report said analysts believe the move could shave 20 years off his sentence. A lawyer and legal scholar, Alexandre Knopfholz, told AP that the bill could reduce penalties for crimes committed by crowds, expanding legal benefits for those charged with destroying government buildings in Brasilia, and also said Bolsonaro “will not be automatically released” even if the Supreme Court allows the measure to stand.
Thursday’s vote also arrived amid broader political signals in Brazil ahead of the October election. AP reported that lawmakers discussing the override referenced the race, noting that four years ago Lula defeated Bolsonaro in a narrow contest and that Lula’s main opponent in the upcoming bid is Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, one of Bolsonaro’s sons. During the vote, Flávio Bolsonaro said, “If it is God’s will, I will govern this country,” and added, “I will hug you and take care of you, no matter what your political view is,” AP reported.
Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in São Paulo, told AP the vote was a bad sign for Lula ahead of the election, while adding that much could change over the following five months. He said attention could also shift to the upcoming soccer World Cup, and he argued the vote was another sign that Bolsonaro remained a competitive political actor even while facing sentencing.