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Brazil court suspends law aimed at reducing Bolsonaro sentence / Photo: © AFP
Brazil court suspends law aimed at reducing Bolsonaro sentence
A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Saturday suspended implementation of a law that could reduce the prison sentence of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro until legal challenges against it are heard, according to a document obtained by AFP.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of the law until the Supreme Court holds a full hearing on appeals challenging its "constitutionality," the document said.
In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison by the Supreme Court, which found him guilty of conspiring to remain in power despite his 2022 electoral defeat to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The law, passed in December by the conservative-majority Congress, was blocked by Lula the following month.
However, lawmakers led by Bolsonaro's allies overturned the presidential veto in late April, and the measure was finally enacted on Friday.
The new law, which applies to all those convicted like Bolsonaro for coup plotting, is intended to reduce the waiting period for sentence reductions, potentially significantly reducing prison terms.
However, defense attorneys of those convicted must file a request for the Supreme Court to recalculate the terms of sentence reductions on a case-by-case basis.
In practical terms, Moraes's order on Saturday suspends the review of these cases until the full Supreme Court meets to decide whether the law is constitutional, after being petitioned by left-wing parties.
The sentence reductions provided for by the law are also intended to benefit those convicted of participating in riots on January 8, 2023, when a mob of Bolsonaro supporters ransacked government buildings in Brasilia, a week after Lula's inauguration.
According to the Supreme Court, this assault was an integral part of the coup plot.
Bolsonaro, 71, is currently serving his sentence under house arrest for health reasons.
On Friday, his lawyers filed a new appeal, asking the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction in order to "rectify a miscarriage of justice."
The former president, who was in office from 2019 to 2022 and has been barred from running again, has designated his eldest son Flavio as his political successor to contest the October election against Lula, who is seeking a fourth term at age 80.
"He should have been our presidential candidate," the 45-year-old senator said of his father at a Saturday event with political allies where he promised to "retire Lula."
Recent polls show Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro neck-and-neck.
P.Thomas--SFF
