President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday (8) issued a full veto of the so-called Dosimetry Bill, approved by Brazil’s Congress late last year. The veto was signed during a ceremony marking three years since the attempted coup of January 8, 2023, held at Palácio do Planalto.
“The coup attempt reminds us that democracy is not unbreakable and must be defended every day,” Lula said. “It requires active participation from society and the building of a just country, with rights for all, not privileges for a few. The enemies of democracy tried to destroy this project, but they were guaranteed a fair trial by the Supreme Federal Court. The Court ruled transparently and impartially, based on robust evidence.”
Approved in the Senate by 48 votes to 25, the bill proposed changing sentencing rules for crimes related to attempting to abolish the democratic rule of law and carrying out a coup. Under the proposal, convictions would be based only on the most severe sentence, rather than the cumulative total of penalties.
The bill also allowed those convicted to serve just 16% of their sentence in a closed regime, even when violence was involved. For repeat offenders, the requirement would drop to 20%, down from the previous 30%. The main beneficiary would have been former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years and three months for his role in the coup plot. Under the bill, Bolsonaro could have served as little as two years and four months in custody; without it, he would remain imprisoned at least until 2033.
The federal government opposed the proposal. Four parties in the lower house, aligned with the government, filed a document to the Supreme Federal Court seeking to halt the bill’s progress.
With Lula’s veto, the bill returns to Congress, where lawmakers may attempt to override the decision. Any such move could also be challenged before the Supreme Court.
Three years since the coup attempt
The veto signing took place during an official ceremony commemorating three years since the storming of Brazil’s Three Powers buildings in Brasília.
“This act honors democracy and the conduct of the Supreme Court, which did not bow to whims,” Lula said. “January 8 marks the victory of our democracy over those who tried to seize power by force. We defeated those who defended dictatorship and torture, those who planned the assassination of public officials, and the traitors who wanted to return Brazil to the hunger map.”
The Supreme Court also held commemorative events on Thursday. Institutionally, Congress chose not to participate in ceremonies organized by either the executive or the judiciary. Neither the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies nor the President of the Senate attended.
“We reject both civilian and military dictatorship,” Lula concluded. “What we want is democracy, born of the people and exercised in their name. Long live Brazilian democracy.”
