The Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Senate approved this Wednesday (17), with 17 votes in favor and seven against, the Bill (PL) 2,162/2023the Dosimetry PL. The proposal provides for the reduction of sentences for those convicted of the attacks in Praça dos Três Poderes on January 8, 2023 and for the attempted coup d’état judged by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
The text was included on the agenda in the Senate, and the expectation is that it will be voted on this Wednesday by the plenary.
The senators approved the opinion of Senator Esperidião Amin (PP-SC), which, among other points, reduces the sentences of those convicted of coup acts. Among those benefiting from the project is former president Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison by the STF, as leader of the coup plot that tried to reverse the result of the 2022 elections to remain in power.
The CCJ session to analyze the opinion began this morning. After presenting the opinion, there was a request for a collective view of just four hours to analyze the text. As a result, voting resumed shortly after 3pm.
In general, the deadline for requests for review is up to five days, which could postpone their consideration by the commission to 2026, as the legislative year ends this Thursday (18), and there are no more CCJ meetings scheduled.
Amin accepted an amendment to the text to determine that the reduction in sentences would only be applied to those convicted of coup acts. The senator considered the amendment as just an adjustment to the wording and not to the merits, so that, if the project is approved by the Senate plenary, it does not need to return to the Chamber of Deputies, who approved the matter in the early hours of December 10.
The leader of the PT, PCdoB and PV federation in the Chamber of Deputies, Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ), said on a social network that he will appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) so that the text can be analyzed again by the Chamber.
“Legal advice is already mobilized. If they insist on the maneuver of disguising an amendment on the merits as a drafting amendment, to prevent the project from returning to the Chamber, we will react. The objective is clear: to gain time, guarantee due legislative process and take the debate to next year. If they move forward today, we will call the STF today. Democracy cannot be negotiated!”, said Farias.
Processing
On the 10th, the president of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União-AP), sent the Dosimetry PL to the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the House, with senator Esperidião Amim (PP-SC) – supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro – as rapporteur.
The next day, when asked about the project, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that he will only decide whether to sanction the so-called Dosimetry Bill when the text reaches the Executive Branch.
“I don’t like giving opinions on something that doesn’t concern the Executive Branch. It’s something that pertains to the Legislative Branch. They are discussing it. There are people who agree, there are people who don’t agree,” said Lula.
Manifestations
Given the progress of the matter in the National Congress, Protesters from several Brazilian cities took to the streets on Sunday (14), in acts contrary to the approval of the Dosimetry PL. The acts are promoted by the Brasil Popular and Povo Sem Medo fronts, left-wing movements that mobilized against the approval of the project.
Protesters occupy Avenida Paulista, in the central region of the capital of São Paulo, this Sunday (14), to protest against the National Congress because of the approval of the Dosimetry Bill (PL). Photo: Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil
What is PL?
The text of the Dosimetry PL determines that the crimes of attempting to abolish the Democratic Rule of Law and coup d’état, when committed in the same context, will imply the use of the most serious penalty instead of the sum of both penalties.
The focus of the PL is a change in the calculation of penalties, “calibrating the minimum and maximum penalties for each criminal type, as well as the general way of calculating penalties”.
The project also proposes to reduce the time for progression of the prison regime from closed to semi-open or open.
Such changes could benefit defendants such as former president Jair Bolsonaro, in addition to the military Almir Garnier, former commander of the Navy; Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, former Minister of Defense; Walter Braga Netto, former Minister of the Civil House; and Augusto Heleno, former head of the Institutional Security Office (GSI).
