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Brazil’s Lower House Backs Bill to Sharply Cut Bolsonaro’s Prison Term

The measure still requires Senate approval before courts recalculate sentences.

Congresspeople from parties supporting former President Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced for leading a coup attempt, attend a session to consider a bill to alter sentencing guidelines for certain crimes including coups d'état, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Congresspeople attend a session to consider a bill to alter the sentencing guidelines for crimes including leading a coup d'état, for which former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the media at the Federal Senate in Brasilia, Brazil July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Deputy Paulinho da Forca chats with other congressmen during a session to consider a bill to alter the sentencing guidelines for crimes including leading a coup d'état, for which former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced, in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Overview

  • Lawmakers voted 291–148 to approve a bill reducing penalties for coup-related crimes, which the sponsor says could cut Jair Bolsonaro’s more than 27-year sentence to about two years and four months.
  • The proposal proceeds to the Senate, and any changes would still be implemented by the judiciary; President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has previously said he would veto the bill.
  • The text combines overlapping offenses and speeds sentence progression, and it would open parole for roughly 100 people jailed over the January 8, 2023 attacks in Brasília.
  • Debate turned disorderly as deputy Glauber Braga was forcibly removed after occupying the Speaker’s chair, and journalists were expelled from the chamber, drawing condemnation from press groups.
  • Bolsonaro remains in federal custody in Brasília while his lawyers petition the Supreme Court for immediate hospitalization and for humanitarian home detention.