Brazil’s Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that could reduce former President Jair Bolsonaro’s 27-year prison sentence for plotting to overthrow the government. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
- The Brazilian Senate approved a proposal to shorten the sentence of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.
- The sentence is to be reduced from over 27 years to two years in prison.
- President Lula da Silva has vowed to veto the proposal.
- The legislation also includes the release of Bolsonaro supporters from prison.
- Congress has the power to override a presidential veto of a proposal.
The vote in the upper chamber of the Brazilian parliament ended with 48 votes in favor to 25 against. The proposal will now go to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to veto it. AFP reminds that a potential veto could be overridden by Congress. The lower house of parliament approved the proposal last week.
The 70-year-old ex-president began serving his sentence in late November on a final conviction for conspiring to prevent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections.
“Bolson’s sentence will be reduced from 27 years and three months to about two years and four months in prison,” said politician Paulinho da Forca, who led negotiations on the bill, in a video sent to AFP. The legislation would also allow the parole of about a hundred Bolsonaro supporters jailed for an attack on government buildings on January 8, 2023, shortly after Lula took office. Bolsonaro’s supporters in the parliament have been considering various options for months, including amnesty for the former leader, but this has sparked mass protests in the country, AFP added.
