On Wednesday, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved the adoption of an emergency scheme for the vote on a bill to grant amnesty to the followers of former President Jair Bolsonaro who raided the headquarters of the three cans in Brasilia in 2023, and which could also be modified to also benefit the former president, convicted last week for attempted coup d’état.
The measure, which sends the bill directly to the plenary of the House without going through a commission, was voted by a large majority (311 in favour, 163 against, and 7 abstentions) hours after Bolsonaro’s doctors reported that he was diagnosed with skin cancer in early condition.
Several opposition legislators had been calling for the amnesty initiative to take priority and were welcomed by the president of the Lower House, Hugo Motta.
The text benefits those who participated in the vandalistic acts of 8 January, but is subject to amendments that could extend amnesty to others convicted of coups. More than 600 people have been sentenced for the siege.
Motta said that on Thursday, a rapporteur (who could make the modifications to the text) will be nominated, and said that he will seek to build a project that seeks national pacification and respect for the institutions.
Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said Wednesday that in the event that Congress approves the bill and sends it to sanction it, he will veto it.
“If they send me to veto me, you can be sure I will veto it,” he said in an interview with BBC News.
The 70-year-old former president was sentenced to 27 years in prison on charges of attempted coup and criminal organization, the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, damage to public property, and deterioration of protected property. The far-right leader is currently under house arrest and can appeal the sentence to the full Federal Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro was hospitalized urgently on Tuesday and discharged on Wednesday. According to the doctors, he entered with a picture of persistent anemia and alteration of kidney function, which caused him a crisis of vomiting, dizziness, and low pressure.
With information from EFE
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