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 offenses, as well as free dozens of Bolsonaro supporters who stormed government buildings shortly after he left office.
Meanwhile, court documents show 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 latest attempt to cut the sentence has been to propose a law overhauling punishments for people in elected office, including significantly reducing sentences for the offenses that Bolsonaro, and those convicted alongside him, were found guilty of. During Tuesday's heated debate, leftist politician Glauber Braga occupied the Speaker's chair in protest against a 'coup offensive'. As the situation escalated, police removed Braga amidst tumult in the chamber.
Bolsonaro was given a lengthy prison sentence in September after Supreme Court judges found he had proposed a coup to military leaders, expressing knowledge of a plot to assassinate rival Lula. While the military coup did not materialize, his supporters launched a violent assault on government buildings in Brasília in January 2023, leading to thousands of detentions.
Several senior military figures were also convicted as part of the coup investigation. Bolsonaro and his supporters have long dismissed the investigation as a 'witch hunt'. As of late Tuesday, the law cutting Bolsonaro’s sentence, which would require ratification by the legislature's second house, had not passed.
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 offenses, as well as free dozens of Bolsonaro supporters who stormed government buildings shortly after he left office.
Meanwhile, court documents show 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 latest attempt to cut the sentence has been to propose a law overhauling punishments for people in elected office, including significantly reducing sentences for the offenses that Bolsonaro, and those convicted alongside him, were found guilty of. During Tuesday's heated debate, leftist politician Glauber Braga occupied the Speaker's chair in protest against a 'coup offensive'. As the situation escalated, police removed Braga amidst tumult in the chamber.
Bolsonaro was given a lengthy prison sentence in September after Supreme Court judges found he had proposed a coup to military leaders, expressing knowledge of a plot to assassinate rival Lula. While the military coup did not materialize, his supporters launched a violent assault on government buildings in Brasília in January 2023, leading to thousands of detentions.
Several senior military figures were also convicted as part of the coup investigation. Bolsonaro and his supporters have long dismissed the investigation as a 'witch hunt'. As of late Tuesday, the law cutting Bolsonaro’s sentence, which would require ratification by the legislature's second house, had not passed.
