Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday (Dec. 18) he will veto the piece of legislation known as Dosimetry Bill, which would reduce the sentences of those convicted for the anti-democratic riots on January 8, 2023, and for attempting a coup d’état.

“People who committed crimes against the Brazilian democracy will have to pay. The trial isn’t even over – people are still being convicted – and folks are already deciding to reduce sentences. I’d like to tell you that, with all due respect to the National Congress, when it reaches my desk, I will veto it. This is no secret to anyone,” he stated.

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“Congress has the right to do things, I have my right to veto, then they have their right to overturn my veto or not. That’s how the game works,” he added in an interview with the press at the Planalto presidential palace.

The president also argued it is necessary to “finish this process” and also investigate those who financed the coup attempts. 

“We need to take what happened on January 8, 2023, very seriously, and there are people who want us to forget, but we cannot forget. Because if democracy forgets how important it is to a nation, we end up losing the game,” he said.

On Wednesday (17), in a roll call vote, the Senate approved the bill with 48 votes in favor and 25 against. The bill now goes to the president for approval.

The piece of legislation stipulates that crimes against the democratic rule of law and coup d’état, when committed in the same context, should incur the most severe penalty rather than the sum of both penalties.

The focus of the bill is a change in the calculation of penalties, “setting the minimum and maximum penalties for each type of crime, as well as the general method of calculating penalties [hence “dosimetry”], also reducing the time required for convicts to serve their sentence in jail before moving to an open regime.”

The changes could benefit defendants such as former President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as military personnel who participated in the coup plot and were convicted by the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, Lula welcomed journalists for breakfast at the presidential palace, followed by a press conference.

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.