Brazil's parliament descended into chaos on Tuesday as conservative lawmakers continued to push a law which would reduce the prison sentence of former president Jair Bolsonaro. One left-wing lawmaker was forcibly removed by police after trying to disrupt proceedings, while footage showed scuffles breaking out as security tried to restore order. Bolsonaro began a 27-year jail term in November for attempting to plot a coup following his 2022 election defeat. His conservative allies in Congress have proposed a law which would reduce sentences for coup-related offences, as well as free dozens of Bolsonaro supporters who stormed government buildings shortly after he left office.
Meanwhile, court documents showed that Bolsonaro's legal team filed an official request asking a court to grant him permission to leave prison for surgery. The appeal repeats a plea for the ex-president to be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest on health grounds. Bolsonaro spent time in intensive care earlier this year following intestinal surgery and was stabbed in the abdomen in 2018 during a rally.
The fate of Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist who was narrowly beaten by leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva three years ago, continues to be a divisive issue in Brazil, where his allies have explored several avenues to exonerate him. The latest attempt to cut the 70-year-old's sentence has been to propose a law overhauling punishments for people in elected office, including significantly reducing sentences for the offences that Bolsonaro, and those convicted alongside him, were found guilty of.
During Tuesday's heated debate, leftist politician Glauber Braga briefly occupied the Speaker's chair as a protest against a 'coup offensive'. The chamber had been due to vote on Braga's expulsion for his role in a previous altercation in Congress. Police forcibly removed Braga amid a skirmish, and the TV feed was cut, which was condemned as censorship by a group representing journalists. Braga later stated he would not 'accept as a done deal an amnesty for a group of coup plotters'.
As of late Tuesday night, the law cutting Bolsonaro's sentence - which would require ratification by the legislature's second house - had not passed. Bolsonaro was given a lengthy prison sentence in September after Supreme Court judges found he had proposed a coup to military leaders, which included knowledge of a plot to assassinate Lula. His supporters launched a violent assault on government buildings in Brasília in January 2023, leading to thousands of detentions. Despite a previous failed attempt to secure an amnesty, Bolsonaro's allies are now proposing a significant cut to sentences as a compromise.
Meanwhile, court documents showed that Bolsonaro's legal team filed an official request asking a court to grant him permission to leave prison for surgery. The appeal repeats a plea for the ex-president to be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest on health grounds. Bolsonaro spent time in intensive care earlier this year following intestinal surgery and was stabbed in the abdomen in 2018 during a rally.
The fate of Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist who was narrowly beaten by leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva three years ago, continues to be a divisive issue in Brazil, where his allies have explored several avenues to exonerate him. The latest attempt to cut the 70-year-old's sentence has been to propose a law overhauling punishments for people in elected office, including significantly reducing sentences for the offences that Bolsonaro, and those convicted alongside him, were found guilty of.
During Tuesday's heated debate, leftist politician Glauber Braga briefly occupied the Speaker's chair as a protest against a 'coup offensive'. The chamber had been due to vote on Braga's expulsion for his role in a previous altercation in Congress. Police forcibly removed Braga amid a skirmish, and the TV feed was cut, which was condemned as censorship by a group representing journalists. Braga later stated he would not 'accept as a done deal an amnesty for a group of coup plotters'.
As of late Tuesday night, the law cutting Bolsonaro's sentence - which would require ratification by the legislature's second house - had not passed. Bolsonaro was given a lengthy prison sentence in September after Supreme Court judges found he had proposed a coup to military leaders, which included knowledge of a plot to assassinate Lula. His supporters launched a violent assault on government buildings in Brasília in January 2023, leading to thousands of detentions. Despite a previous failed attempt to secure an amnesty, Bolsonaro's allies are now proposing a significant cut to sentences as a compromise.
