Brazil’s Congress on Thursday approved a reduced sentence for former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving 27 years in prison for an attempted coup. The AP agency notes that an appeal against this decision is expected, writes TASR. It is not yet clear how many years Bolsonaro will be in prison, but according to analysts, this move by Congress could shorten the former head of state’s sentence by up to 20 years. The ex-president’s sentence began in November 2025 and he is currently under house arrest.
Congress on Thursday overrode President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s veto of a bill that would significantly reduce the sentence for 71-year-old Bolsonaro. According to Reuters, the legislation reduced the former president’s sentence to just over two years and also reduced sentences for those convicted of their involvement in the January 2023 riots, when Bolsonaro supporters stormed and damaged the presidential palace, the Supreme Court building and Congress.
Reuters notes that the congressional move marks the second defeat lawmakers have dealt Lula this week, after the Senate on Wednesday rejected his nomination of Secretary-General Jorge Messias to be a judge on Brazil’s Supreme Court. He thus became the first leader in more than a century whose nomination was rejected by the Congress.
Bolsonaro was in the presidency from 2019 to 2022. He denies guilt and says he is a victim of political persecution. He served the beginning of his sentence under house arrest. After trying to remove the monitoring bracelet from his ankle, he was placed in prison, as the court evaluated his act as an escape attempt. In March, the Brazilian Supreme Court allowed him to temporarily serve his sentence again under house arrest due to health problems.
