Brazil Congress approves reduced sentence for Bolsonaro

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Senator Flavio Bolsonaro (C) celebrates during a National Congress session that overturned President Lula’s veto of a bill reducing sentences for those convicted over the attempted coup d’etat and the acts of January 8, 2023, in Brasilia on April 30, 2026. (Photo by Sergio Lima / AFP)

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Brazil’s Congress on Thursday overturned President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s veto of a law dramatically reducing the prison sentence of his arch-rival Jair Bolsonaro, the second major defeat for Lula in as many days.

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Former president Bolsonaro, 71, was sentenced last year to 27 years behind bars for coup plotting over his attempt to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections to Lula.

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The left-wing Lula had attempted to block a subsequent push by the conservative-majority Congress to reduce Bolsonaro’s term to a little over two years.

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But lawmakers on Thursday overrode his veto of a law changing how prison sentences are calculated.

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The opposition carried the vote by a large majority of 318 to 144 in the Chamber of Deputies and 49 to 24 in the Senate.

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The vote represents another major setback for Lula, who is campaigning for a fourth term, after the Senate on Wednesday rejected his pick for Supreme Court justice, Jorge Messias.

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It was the first time in decades that the president’s candidate for a seat on the top court was rejected, underscoring the deep divisions in Brazil five months before presidential elections.

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– Brasilia rioters to benefit –

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Former army captain Bolsonaro served a single term as president from 2019 to 2022.

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His coup trial was seen as a test of Brazilian democracy.

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The law on his early release benefits not just the right-wing firebrand.

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It also favors Bolsonaro’s co-accused in the coup trial as well as dozens of people imprisoned over 2023 pro-Bolsonaro riots in Brasilia.

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On January 8 that year, Bolsonaro supporters vandalized government buildings in scenes reminiscent of the January 2021 US Capitol riots by supporters of President Donald Trump.

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Bolsonaro has denied all the charges against him.

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He and his supporters, including Trump, have argued he is the victim of a left-wing judicial “witch hunt.”

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Last month, he was moved to house arrest to recuperate after being hospitalized with bronchopneumonia.

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AFP

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