Protesters in various Brazilian cities took to the streets on Sunday (Dec. 14) against the approval of a bill dubbed Dosimetry Bill (in reference to the calculation of sentence lengths), which aims to reduce the penalties for individuals convicted of the pro-coup riots staged on January 8, 2023, and to benefit former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Opposition lawmakers estimate that, based on the criteria set forth in the bill – which also reduces the time required for a convict to progress from imprisonment in jail to house arrest – Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to just over 27 years in prison, would serve only two years and four months in prison, instead of the seven years and eight months ruled by the court.
 

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The protests were organized by the Brasil Popular (“Brazil of the People”) and Povo Sem Medo (“The People Without Fear”) fronts – left-wing movements that mobilized against the bill’s approval in the country’s main capitals.

“This demonstration was motivated by the vote that took place in the lower house this week on the Dosimetry Bill. We consider this to be a form of amnesty, and we believe that the crimes committed against democracy are very serious and cannot be forgiven, not least because impunity will lead to further coup attempts in the future,” said Juliana Donato, from Povo Sem Medo. She believes that popular pressure in the streets is a movement that could indeed lead to the defeat of the bill in a vote yet to be held in the Senate.

In Brasília, protesters gathered in front of the Museum of the Republic and marched to Congress, where they chanted slogans and held up posters reading “No pardon for coup-mongers.”

São Paulo

Protesters occupied Paulista Avenue in downtown São Paulo. Representatives from labor unions, social and student movements, and political parties opposed to the bill joined the rally.They chanted “no amnesty” several times and carried posters with mes sages such as “Congress is the enemy of the people,” highlighting criticism of House Speaker Hugo Motta for the speed with which he put the bill to a vote.
 

Rio de Janeiro

The demonstrations brought thousands of people to Rio’s Copacabana Beach. The call to action came from Brasil Sem Medo, unions, and students, and was attended by activists, representatives from left-wing political parties, and artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who referred to the demonstration as the second musical act against the setbacks being discussed in Congress.

In addition to the bill, described by participants as a major democratic setback and a “coup,” protesters also spoke out against the six-day work week and one-day rest schedule and for the reduction of working hours, demanded concrete measures to combat femicide, and condemned the time frame that limits the demarcation of indigenous lands.

Angela Tarnapolsky, a retiree, said that at 72, after witnessing much of Brazil’s recent history since the military coup, she could not help but protest. “What brought me here today was outrage at a dramatic situation that has been unfolding since the coup against [former] President Dilma [Rousseff],” she said. She had hoped for a return to democracy with the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but she sees setbacks in the actions of lawmakers and senators whom she called reactionaries. “Not even during the dictatorship did we have a Congress with such a majority of fascists,” she argued.

“We had a very difficult week. How can they put a disguised amnesty bill to a vote at 1 am? I’ve never seen the National Congress meet in the middle of the night, on the sly, in the dead of night, to give some kind of benefit to workers,” singer Teresa Cristina pointed out indignantly during the demonstration in Rio.

The historic beginning of prison sentences for generals convicted of participating in a coup plot shows Brazilian democracy is maturing, says Mateus Gamba Torres, History professor at the University of Brasília.

This week, in addition to the imprisonment of former President Jair Bolsonaro – a retired Army captain himself – Generals Augusto Heleno Pereira, Paulo Sergio Nogueira, and Walter Braga Netto, and Admiral Almir Garnier were also arrested.

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Their conviction also means that they should be subject to disciplinary action and will be tried by the Superior Military Court. 

This is the first time in Brazil’s history that military personnel have been arrested for direct involvement in a coup plot.

In the view of Professor Mateus Torres, 40 years after the end of the military dictatorship in Brazil, a path towards consolidating democracy is now in place.

“Even if the military decided to attempt a coup, as has happened several times in the republic, this is no longer accepted by our democracy,” the expert said.

Dirt under the rug

Regarding the proposals being debated in Congress to grant amnesty to coup plotters, Professor Torres recalls that demands like this have been successful at other times in Brazil’s history. However, he does not believe that a possible pardon could pacify the country or reduce polarization.

“Amnesty does not appease anything. It sweeps the dirt under the rug. Amnesty, in these cases, leads to impunity for coup plotters,” he argued.

The professor also describes the possibility of military personnel losing their ranks in proceedings at the Superior Military Court after a conviction in a civil court as historic.

“There is nothing more unworthy than going against our democracy. We know there is corporatism. But right now, there is a climate for this [the loss of ranks] to happen,” he went on to argue.

 

The four justices of the first panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously voted to uphold the preventive detention of former President Jair Bolsonaro. He has been held in a Federal Police facility in Brasília since Saturday (Nov. 22).

Bolsonaro was arrested on Saturday morning after attempting to tamper with his electronic ankle bracelet with a soldering iron. At a custody hearing, the former president confessed to the act and claimed “paranoia” caused by medication.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Bolsonaro violates ankle monitor, sent to prison cell.
• Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for coup plot.

In the decision ordering preventive detention, Justice Moraes also cited a vigil called by Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s son, to be held by supporters in front of the condominium where Bolsonaro was under house arrest, in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood of Brasília.

“The information confirms the convicted man’s intention to break his electronic ankle bracelet to ensure his escape, facilitated by the confusion caused by the demonstration called by his son,” the justice wrote. He said he ordered preventive detention to “ensure the application of criminal law.”

As expected, Justice Moraes reproduced his own decision in Monday’s vote. Justice Flávio Dino, in turn, attached a written vote in which he stated that the vigil to be held in a densely populated area represented an “unbearable threat to public order,” putting residents of the region at risk.

Justice Dino also cited the recent flight of congressman Alexandre Ramagem to the US, as well as other Bolsonaro supporters attempting to flee.

“These flights show deep disloyalty to national institutions, creating a deplorable criminal ecosystem,” he declared.

When asked to comment, Bolsonaro’s defense team claimed “mental confusion” caused by the interaction of drugs that affect the central nervous system. The day before his arrest, the former president’s defense team had requested the Supreme Court to allow Bolsonaro to serve his sentence under house arrest on humanitarian grounds. The request was rejected.

Justice Cristiano Zanin simply concurred in full, without attaching a written opinion.

Coup d’état

In September, Bolsonaro was sentenced by the first panel of the Supreme Court to 27 years and three months in prison, initially in closed custody. By a vote of four to one, he was found guilty of leading an armed criminal organization in a bid to stage a coup d’état, to remain in power after his electoral defeat in 2022.

The first panel has so far rejected the initial appeals filed by the defense team representing the former president and six other defendants convicted in the same criminal case, which targeted Nucleus 1, the main group of defendants in the coup plot case.

Ramagem is part of the same group and was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison.

This Monday (24) marks the deadline for the defense to file new motions for clarification – appeals that aim to answer questions or fill gaps in the conviction ruling, but which, in theory, would not change the outcome of the trial.

The defense could still appeal for infringements, in which lawyers can plead for the reversal of the conviction based on the votes for acquittal. The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, however, states that this type of appeal is only applicable if there is more than one dissenting vote – which is not the case with Bolsonaro.

In similar cases, Moraes ordered the sentence to be served immediately after the rejection of the first motions for clarification was confirmed, on the grounds that any additional appeal would be “merely dilatory.”