Brazil Lawmakers Override Lula Veto on Bolsonaro Sentence Cuts

Brazilian lawmakers on Thursday voted to override President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's veto of legislation that reduces prison sentences for former President Jair Bolsonaro and others convicted in connection with a coup plot following his 2022 election defeat.

Majorities in both the lower house and Senate approved the measure, with the Chamber of Deputies voting 318 to 144 and the Senate 49 to 24. The bill alters sentencing calculations for participants in the January 8, 2023, riots in Brasilia, when Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in an attempt to overturn his narrow loss to Lula. Bolsonaro, convicted last September of plotting the coup, faces a 27-year sentence under current rules. The new law shortens it to 20 years and nine months and limits time in a closed prison regime to two years and four months, down from six to eight years, according to lower house estimates.

Bolsonaro, 71, is currently on a 90-day house arrest ordered in April by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes to allow recovery from health issues, including recent hospitalization for bronchopneumonia. His lawyers have requested permanent house arrest, a petition Moraes plans to review...