Brazil's Senate approved on Wednesday (December 17) a bill to shorten the 27-year prison sentence of former President Jair Bolsonaro, although it is likely to face resistance from the Supreme Court and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The bill was approved by the lower house last week and now goes to Lula, who has not said whether he will sign it into law or veto it. It could cut the former president's prison term to just over two years.

The text also establishes sentence reductions for those convicted for their roles in a January 2023 riot, when Bolsonaro supporters invaded and ransacked the presidential palace, Supreme Court and Congress.

Last month, Bolsonaro began serving his sentence for plotting a coup against Lula after losing the 2022 election.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

BRASILIA, BRAZIL (DECEMBER 17, 2025) (BRAZIL SENATE TV – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF SENATE SESSION IN PROGRESS

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) PT-PE SENATOR, TERESA LEITAO, SAYING:

"I think what we are debating here is a bill that at first would be an amnesty bill; it then becomes one about sentencing guidelines, but it does not hide the desire for amnesty. That wordplay is not just wordplay—it is a political stance."

3. SESSION IN PROGRESS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) UNIAO-PR SENATOR, SERGIO MORO, SAYING:

"From the Senate here, from the beginning, we positioned ourselves in favor of correcting that mistake and restricting the benefits only to those convicted over January 8—whether the demonstrators, whether (former president Jair Bolsonaro) or the generals—regarding whom there are also many doubts about the process and about fairness in the trial, in particular the major debate over whether there really was an attempted coup or whether all of this was nothing more than an agitation that ended up being abandoned."

5. SENATE PRESIDENT DAVI ALCOLUMBRE CALLING SENATORS TO VOTE

6. SCREEN SHOWING VOTE RESULTS

7. SENATORS CELEBRATING

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) SENATE PRESIDENT DAVI ALCOLUMBRE, SAYING:

"The bill is approved with amendment number 6. Forty-eight senators voted yes, twenty-five voted no, and there was one abstention. The steering committee's opinion will provide the final wording and it will be published in accordance with the rules. We move to the final text. The debate is closed and we proceed to the vote. Senators who approve, remain as you are. The final text is approved. The matter goes to presidential assent, and the appropriate notice will be sent to the chamber of deputies."

9. SESSION IN PROGRESS