MPs slash Bolsonaro prison term

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — 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.

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.

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.

But following a tense session marked by shouting and jeers from both sides, lawmakers on Thursday overrode his veto of a law changing how prison sentences are calculated.

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.

Several lawmakers were seen celebrating in Congress, loudly chanting the word “freedom” — and the name of presidential hopeful Flavio Bolsonaro, the imprisoned ex-leader’s eldest son.

“I thank the deputies and senators for this very special birthday present,” Flavio Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator, posted on X regarding the veto override that coincided with his 45th birthday.

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

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.

And it clearly marked momentum for the younger Bolsonaro, who as his father’s political heir is tied with 80-year-old Lula in the polls.

‘Political mistake’

Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain, served one term as president from 2019 to 2022.

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

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

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

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

“We’ve seen so much injustice, so many things, and it seems we can finally feel a little relief,” Diene Vilar, a friend of a woman serving a 15-year sentence for participating in the riots, told Agence France-Presse.

“This kind of punishment cannot build peace in the country,” right-wing Senator Esperidao Amin told reporters after the vote.

“Lula’s veto was a political mistake,” he said, “and the response came today.”

Lula allies criticized the right-wing victory.

“What happened here today is dangerous,” lawmaker Pedro Uczai, leader of the ruling party in the lower house, told reporters. “The rise of the far right in this current process raises the prospect of new threats to democracy in the future.”

Bolsonaro has denied all the charges against him.

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

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