Brazilian lawmakers have controversially voted to significantly shorten the prison sentence of Jair Bolsonaro, a move that is expected to face considerable opposition from senators, the Supreme Court, and the country’s leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In a tense session that reportedly descended into chaos, Brazil’s lower house approved the bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
If enacted, the legislation could see Mr Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison term reduced to just over two years, according to its sponsor.
Mr Bolsonaro began serving his sentence last month after being convicted of plotting a coup against President Lula following his defeat in the 2022 election.
The bill, passed with a 291-148 vote, aims to reduce sentences for individuals convicted for their involvement in the January 2023 riot, during which Bolsonaro supporters stormed and ransacked the presidential palace, Supreme Court, and Congress.
This vote follows closely on the heels of an announcement by Mr Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who declared his own presidential bid and initiated discussions with influential centrist parties in Congress.
Senator Bolsonaro controversially told journalists that his father’s freedom was the “price” of his candidacy, although he later retracted these remarks, asserting his candidacy was “irreversible”.
A preliminary version of the bill put forward by opposition right-wing lawmakers would have pardoned those involved in “political demonstrations” after Lula’s election, but the bill’s sponsor Paulinho da Força ruled out granting them full amnesty.
“There is no possibility of amnesty,” he said. “We spoke with all the parties, and the only viable project to pacify Brazil is the reduction of sentences.”
About 2,000 people were arrested over the Brasilia attack, which drew comparisons to the January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Many have been convicted by the Supreme Court of attempting a coup, among other crimes.
The bill will need to pass a Senate committee and then a floor vote before it would go to Lula for a signature.
A government minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it will be difficult to stop the bill from passing the Senate but Lula is expected to veto it — leaving Congress with the burden of trying to overturn a veto.
Lula’s Institutional Relations Minister Gleisi Hoffmann called the lower house vote a “serious setback.” She said the bill weakened laws that defend democracy and challenged the Federal Supreme Court’s rulings in the coup-plotters’ trials, which have not concluded yet.
“This is the result of political interests between the Bolsonaro family and opposition leaders,” Hoffmann said.
Chaos erupted in the chamber ahead of the vote, after lower house President Hugo Motta announced a floor vote on the bill, along with other votes to strip the titles of several lawmakers in the chamber.
One of those lawmakers, Glauber Braga of Socialism and Liberty Party, occupied Motta’s chair in protest, prompting the chamber’s president to have him forcibly removed by police.
Reporters said they were removed from the plenary during the commotion, prompting three journalists’ associations to condemn in a joint statement what they called “intimidation tactics” against the press.
