A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has suspended a law that would have reduced the prison sentences of former President Jair Bolsonaro and others convicted of plotting a coup, pending a full constitutional review. Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order on Saturday, citing the need for "legal certainty" while the court convenes a plenary session to rule on challenges to the law's constitutionality.
Bolsonaro, a far-right former president who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was sentenced in September to 27 years in prison for conspiring to remain in power after losing the 2022 election to left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The contested law, passed by Brazil's conservative-majority Congress in December, was designed to apply to all those convicted of attempted coup-related offences — a category that includes participants in the January 8, 2023 riots, when Bolsonaro supporters stormed and ransacked key government buildings in the capital, Brasília, just days after Lula's inauguration. The Supreme Court has described that assault as part of a broader "putschist project."
The legislative battle over the law has been fierce. President Lula vetoed the bill in January, but Bolsonaro's congressional allies mustered enough votes to override the veto in late April, formally enacting it last Friday. The law does not automatically reduce sentences — defence lawyers would need to file individual petitions for the court to recalculate terms on a case-by-case basis. De Moraes' order suspends the processing of all such requests until the full court has ruled on whether the law is constitutional. On Friday, Bolsonaro's lawyers filed a separate appeal asking the court to annul his conviction entirely, calling it a "miscarriage of justice." The 71-year-old is currently serving his sentence under house arrest for health reasons.
The case sits at the heart of a deep political divide in Brazil. Bolsonaro's supporters have condemned his conviction as a politically motivated prosecution, while his opponents argue it represents essential accountability for an assault on democratic institutions. The controversy is likely to intensify ahead of October's general election, in which Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth presidential term. Bolsonaro, who is barred from running for office, has endorsed his eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, as his political heir — a succession that ensures the elder Bolsonaro's legal battles will remain central to Brazilian politics for the foreseeable future.