Brazil's largely conservative congress has approved a bill reducing the prison sentence of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted last year of attempting a coup. The bill, initially passed in December, was vetoed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in January but had the veto overturned by the lower house and senate on Thursday.
The lower house overturned the veto with 318 votes, well above the 257 required, and the senate followed with 49 votes, exceeding the 41 needed. If confirmed by a supreme court justice, Bolsonaro's sentence would drop from 27 years and three months to 22 years and one month. The time served in a closed regime could also be reduced from an estimated four to six years to between two and four years, potentially allowing Bolsonaro to move to an open regime as early as 2028.
The decision marks a second major blow for Lula in less than 24 hours. On Wednesday night, Lula suffered a historic defeat when his nominee to the supreme court, lawyer Jorge Messias, was rejected by the senate—the first such rejection in over 130 years. Both events are seen as evidence of Lula's difficult path ahead in the October election, where he is expected to face a tight race against Bolsonaro's son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
Despite the overturning of the veto, Bolsonaro's sentence reduction is not automatic; his lawyers must file a request for a sentence review with the supreme court. The new law also reduces sentences for about 280 others convicted over the attempted coup to overturn the 2022 election results. Lula has not commented on the decision but previously stated that reducing sentences for an attempted coup would encourage similar crimes.
