BRASILLIA, Dec 10 — Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a bill early today that could slash former president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament.
The far-right former leader has been serving a 27-year term since November after his conviction for a scheme to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections.
Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat—opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could see his sentence cut to just over two years.
After a heated debate that saw one lawmaker forcibly removed by police, the lower house of Congress approved the bill this morning. It still awaits Senate ratification before becoming law.
Bolsonaro’s supporters in the conservative-majority Congress have for months weighed different options to ease his punishment, including a possible amnesty that fizzled out after countrywide protests.
After that failed, congressman Sostenes Cavalcante said, “the first step to achieving our goal will be the reduction of sentences.”
Yesterday, efforts to vote on the bill led to turmoil in the Chamber of Deputies.
Police forcibly removed government-allied leftist deputy Glauber Braga after denouncing a “coup offensive” and occupying the Speaker’s chair, according to footage broadcast on local television.
The broadcast was interrupted, journalists were removed from the plenary hall, and the debate was suspended. The session resumed after order was restored.
Braga said he was exercising his right “not to accept as a done deal an amnesty for a group of coup plotters.”
If the bill passes into law, “Bolsonaro will see his sentence reduced… to something like two years and four months in prison,” Paulinho da Forca, who is leading negotiations on the bill, said in a video sent to AFP.
It would also grant parole to about 100 Bolsonaro supporters imprisoned for the January 8, 2023, assault on government buildings in Brasilia, shortly after Lula took office.
However, it will be up to the judiciary to reformulate sentencing under the new conditions approved by Congress.
Bolsonaro’s defense team has also asked the Supreme Court to authorize his release for a surgical procedure due to his deteriorating health, according to documents obtained by AFP.
As they requested weeks ago, his lawyers again sought for the court to allow the ex-president to serve his sentence at home for “humanitarian” reasons.
Authoritarian measures
Lindbergh Farias, leader of the ruling Worker Party in Congress, said the initiative was “unacceptable” as it was clearly aimed at “creating a specific law to benefit Bolsonaro.”
Conservative house president Hugo Motta meanwhile faced criticism for ordering journalists out.
In a statement, the FENAJ national press association and a journalist’s union slammed the “episode of censorship and aggression against the press.”
The bill had been stalled for several months but resurfaced a few days after Bolsonaro anointed his son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as his successor ahead of 2026 presidential elections.
Flavio said on Sunday he would be willing to withdraw his 2026 presidential candidacy in exchange for an amnesty for his father.
In late November, Jair Bolsonaro’s lawyers said they would appeal his detention that “could put his life at risk” due to his frail health.
Bolsonaro has a history of abdominal issues after being stabbed during the 2018 campaign, and has required several follow-up surgeries.
The recently submitted medical documents obtained by AFP “reveal a significant worsening of Bolsonaro’s health” that requires his “immediate hospitalization,” his defense team said in the request to the Supreme Court. — AFP
Brazil’s lower house approves bill that could slash Bolsonaro’s coup sentence
