{"id":8020,"date":"2026-01-09T05:59:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T05:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8020"},"modified":"2026-01-09T05:59:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T05:59:30","slug":"brazils-president-lula-vetoes-bill-to-trim-bolsonaro-prison-sentence-jair-bolsonaro-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=8020","title":{"rendered":"Brazil\u2019s President Lula vetoes bill to trim Bolsonaro prison sentence | Jair Bolsonaro News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vetoed a bill that would have reduced the prison sentence of his right-wing rival and predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Lula followed through with his promise to block the legislation, which had passed Brazil\u2019s opposition-controlled Congress last year.<\/p>\n

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Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

\u201cIn the name of the future, we do not have the right to forget the past,\u201d Lula wrote<\/a> in a series of social media posts, saying that it would have benefitted \u201cthose who attacked Brazilian democracy\u201d.<\/p>\n

The veto came on the third anniversary of the 2023 attack on the Three Powers Plaza in the capital of Brasilia, where government buildings representing the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court stand.<\/p>\n

On January 8 of that year, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the buildings in an apparent attempt to provoke a military response that would remove Lula from power.<\/p>\n

In marking the anniversary of the attack, Lula called on Brazilians to stand up for their young democracy, which began after a period of violent dictatorship in the late 20th century.<\/p>\n

\u201cJanuary 8th is marked in history as the day of democracy\u2019s victory. A victory over those who tried to seize power by force, disregarding the popular will expressed at the ballot box. Over those who have always defended dictatorship, torture, and the extermination of opponents,\u201d Lula wrote<\/a> online.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attempted coup on January 8, 2023, reminded us that democracy is not an unshakeable achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, centre, and his wife, First Lady Rosangela da Silva, attend a ceremony marking the three-year anniversary of Brazil\u2019s capital riot, on January 8, 2026 [Eraldo Peres\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s sentence<\/h2>\n

The January 8 attack caused millions of dollars in property damage and dozens of injuries, as police and protesters clashed in the government plaza.<\/p>\n

The incident evoked comparisons to the violent riot at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, where supporters of President Donald Trump attempted to disrupt the certification of his 2020 election defeat.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Bolsonaro, a former army captain, had refused to concede his defeat to Lula after a narrow loss in the 2022 elections.<\/p>\n

Rather, he and his allies had argued that Brazil\u2019s electronic voting machines were susceptible to fraud, and they challenged the election results in court. Their petition, however, was thrown out for its \u201ctotal absence of any evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Still, many of Bolsonaro\u2019s supporters backed his claims and took to the streets to protest the election results. The weeks surrounding Lula\u2019s inauguration in January 2023 were fraught, with reports of a bomb threat and an attack on police headquarters in Brasilia.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors later accused Bolsonaro and his allies of leading a criminal conspiracy to overturn the election results.<\/p>\n

One of the options the defendants allegedly weighed was to declare a \u201cstate of siege\u201d in Brazil, which would allow the military to take control and new elections be held. Another option was reportedly to assassinate Lula and his running mate, Geraldo Alckmin.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing, framing the accusations instead as a political hit job.<\/p>\n

Still, in September, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison after being found guilty on counts including attempting a coup, causing damage to public property, attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, participation in a criminal enterprise, and the deterioration of a listed national heritage site.<\/p>\n

He began his prison term in November, after he was found to have damaged the ankle monitor used to ensure he was not a flight risk.<\/p>\n

Weighing October\u2019s election<\/h2>\n

Conservative politicians, however, have decried the prison sentence as excessive and called for its reduction.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s son Eduardo has petitioned the Trump administration in the US to intervene on behalf of the imprisoned ex-president, and his eldest child, Flavio Bolsonaro, even hinted he might suspend his 2026 presidential bid if his father were released.<\/p>\n

On December 10, Brazil\u2019s Chamber of Deputies passed legislation that would reduce the sentences of nearly 1,000 people linked to the January 8 attack, including Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n

A week later, on December 17, the Senate followed suit, sending the leniency bill to the president for his signature.<\/p>\n

But Lula had repeatedly pledged to reject the bill, risking the possibility that Brazil\u2019s Congress could override his veto.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThis is a bill that really is a litmus test in Brazilian politics,\u201d Gustavo Ribeiro, a journalist and founder of The Brazil Report, told Al Jazeera. \u201cConservatives overwhelmingly supported it, while liberals are adamantly against it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Ribeiro described the bill as a compromise between Brazil\u2019s centre-right and far-right forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe centre-right tried to work a sort of a middle-of-the-road solution that is not full amnesty but would allow Bolsonaro to leave incarceration after two years, in what we call in Brazil a semi-open prison sentence,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

He sees Brazil\u2019s general election in October as a significant factor in Congress\u2019s passage of the bill, noting that Bolsonaro remains a popular figure on the right.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause Bolsonaro has such a big clout with conservatives, many in Congress \u2013 many right-of-centre lawmakers \u2013 fear that if they do not lend their full support to any cause that Bolsonaro espouses, they will lose support,\u201d Ribeiro said.<\/p>\n

Lula is seeking a fourth term as president in October\u2019s election, and he is expected to face Bolsonaro\u2019s son Flavio at the ballot box.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vetoed a bill that would have reduced the prison sentence of his right-wing rival and predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup. On Thursday, Lula followed through with his promise to block the legislation, which had passed Brazil\u2019s opposition-controlled Congress last year. Recommended Stories […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}