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Lula Vetoes Bill to Reduce Jan. 8 Sentences, Blocking Relief for Bolsonaro

The move sets up a test with a conservative Congress that can still try to override it.

Overview

  • President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a full veto during a Jan. 8 ceremony marking three years since the Brasília attacks, praising the Supreme Court's handling of the cases.
  • The vetoed 'dosimetría' bill would have barred adding multiple sentences and allowed transfer to semi-open or open regimes after roughly 16.6% of a sentence.
  • Under current rules, Jair Bolsonaro is expected to serve about eight years before seeking a regime change, while the bill could have reduced that to a little over two years.
  • Congress retains the power to overturn the veto, and the government has signaled it could take the dispute to the Supreme Federal Court if lawmakers reverse it.
  • Opposition figures denounced the decision as confrontational, while the government framed the veto as defending democracy in a year that follows nearly 1,400 prosecutions and about 400 sentences exceeding ten years.