Lula Announces He Will Veto Bill That Reduces Bolsonaro's 27-Year Prison Sentence

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warns that those who attacked democracy "must pay." On this basis, he anticipates that he will not sign the bill to reduce the prison sentence of the far-right former president, Jair Bolsonaro, convicted of coup plotting. Although the bill has already been approved by the Chamber of Deputies and subsequently by the Senate, it now requires the president's signature, and Lula warns that he will not give it. "With all due respect to Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it (...) I have the right to veto it, and then they have the right to overturn or not my veto," the president told the Brazilian press. His words come just hours after the Brazilian Senate voted in favor of the bill, following Bolsonaro's start of his sentence last November for planning a coup against Lula after losing the 2022 elections.

Supreme Federal Court, another Achilles' heel for Bolsonaro

The blocking of the sentence reduction would not only come from the current president. The text is also expected to be challenged before the Supreme Federal Court. The bill reduces the definitive sentences of those convicted on multiple charges related to the attempted coup, including Bolsonaro. The former president's lawyers appealed to the Supreme Federal Court after his conviction, arguing that the prison sentence was excessive. They also argued that the sentences for abolishing the rule of law and attempting a coup should not be added together, as they arose from a single episode.

The proposed law would accelerate the progression of sentences, from harsher to more lenient prison regimes, for those convicted. There is no consensus on the actual length of Bolsonaro's sentence if the law comes into effect. However, under current rules, the former president could move to a less restrictive prison system after 7 years if he meets the legal requirements during his incarceration.

Pauinho da Força, the bill's rapporteur in the Chamber of Deputies, has estimated that this period could be reduced to just over two years if the law is approved. The initiative would also allow sentence reductions of up to two-thirds for crimes committed in a crowd, benefiting those convicted of storming public buildings during the January 8, 2023 insurrection in Brasilia.