Brazil Congress Overturns Lula Veto On Bolsonaro Sentence Reduction
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 1 (Bernama-dpa) -- Brazil's Congress has overturned a veto by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on a bill that could shorten former president Jair Bolsonaro's prison sentence, according to local media on Thursday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The required majorities were comfortably reached in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, the G1 news portal reported.
Bolsonaro is currently serving a sentence of more than 27 years for an attempted coup and is under house arrest on health grounds.
The new rules could change key calculations used to determine prison terms, potentially affecting how long Bolsonaro remains in custody.
According to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, his sentence could be shortened by several years.
However, any concrete adjustment would only follow a review by the Supreme Court and would not happen automatically.
The law can also still be challenged before the court, a step considered likely.
The new rules apply to convictions linked to the riots of January 8, 2023, when supporters of the then president stormed government buildings in Brasília.
The core of the change is that sentences for multiple offences will no longer be added together in full. Instead, only the sentence for the most serious crime will be used and then increased within a set range.
Further sentence reductions are also possible under certain conditions.
Bolsonaro's son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, described the vote as a "first step" towards "full justice for those persecuted on January 8."
A video circulated online showed him celebrating the vote with other senators in the chamber.
The bill had already been passed by Congress in December last year before Lula blocked it with his veto. For Lula, it marks another defeat.
On Wednesday, the Senate rejected a Supreme Court nominee for the first time in more than 130 years, denying Lula's nominee, Attorney General Jorge Messias, the required majority.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
