Chaos in Brazil’s Chamber Delays Vote on Bill That Could Cut Jan. 8 Sentences

Overview

• Chamber president Hugo Motta moved to vote on the so‑called dosimetry bill on December 9 and ruled out a general amnesty, but the session unraveled and the vote was postponed.
• The report by Paulinho da Força treats overlapping Jan. 8 crimes as a single course of conduct, allows one‑third to two‑thirds reductions for non‑leaders acting in a crowd, restores progression after one‑sixth of the sentence, and clarifies remição for domiciliary regimes.
• Based on the new rules, the relator’s calculations indicate Jair Bolsonaro’s time in a closed regime could fall to about two years and three to four months before progression.
• The government denounced the proposal as a setback for democratic protections and said it will whip votes against it, while PL leaders said Bolsonaro authorized support and framed the move as a first step toward pursuing amnesty later.
• Protest turmoil included deputy Glauber Braga being forcibly removed from the presiding chair, the official broadcast being cut, and journalists expelled; if approved later, the bill would still face the Senate and any sentence changes would require defense petitions and STF review.