Brazil’s Chamber Sets Vote on Jan. 8 Sentencing Bill That Could Cut Bolsonaro’s Prison Time

Overview

• Hugo Motta placed PL 2162/23 on the plenary agenda for a vote today, and relator Paulinho da Força filed his report.
• The substitute text treats overlapping Jan. 8 offenses as concurso formal, allows a one‑third to two‑thirds reduction for non‑leaders acting in a crowd, restores faster progression, and recognizes sentence remission for work or study in domiciliary regime.
• Gleisi Hoffmann announced the administration will direct a no vote, while government leaders denounced the move as undermining accountability for the anti‑democratic acts.
• PL leader Sóstenes Cavalcante said Jair Bolsonaro approved advancing the bill and the party will not seek a general amnesty in this vote, and press estimates indicate Bolsonaro’s time in closed regime could fall to under three years if the measure passes.
• Benefits would be retroactive but not automatic, as defendants must petition for them and the STF would review execution; separately, the PGR urged convictions of six ‘núcleo 2’ defendants as their defenses asked the Court for acquittal.