Brazil: Chaos breaks out in Congress during Jair Bolsonaro sentence vote
BBC News6 days
Brazil: Lower House Passes Bill to Reduce Sentences for Coup Convicts
Is it a step toward national healing, a political theater rubber-stamping abuses, or a constitutional betrayal that rewards coup plotters?
Above: Brazil's Chamber of Deputies Speaker Hugo Motta speaks during a plenary session on Dec. 9, 2025. Image credit: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
This bill offers a path to turn the page on a toxic polarization that has drained national energy and allows reconsideration of excessive sentences for those who played minor roles in the events. The measure provides judicial flexibility to reduce penalties for individuals who received disproportionate punishment — enabling families to reunite while Brazil moves forward without forgetting its democratic values.
Left narrative
This late-night vote tears up the Constitution and attacks democracy itself by granting leniency to coup plotters who violently invaded government buildings. The timing reeks of backroom deals, rushed through when fewer could witness this shameful capitulation. It's concerning that Bolsonaro could walk free soon despite his 27-year sentence.
Right narrative
This bill creates nothing new and merely returns power to the same Supreme Court that committed the abuses in the first place. Existing mechanisms for sentence reduction were deliberately ignored, making this legislation a facade that legitimizes political persecution and abandons thousands of families destroyed by the system.