"Hundreds of Brazilians demonstrated against a sentencing reform bill reducing jail terms for those convicted of attempting a coup in Sao Paulo on Sunday. Footage filmed this Sunday shows protesters holding flags and banners with messages such as 'No amnesty, no sentencing reduction', while chanting slogans such as 'I want to see the coup plotters in prison, no amnesty'. A giant inflatable depicting former president Jair Bolsonaro wearing a prison uniform can also be seen. The bill, approved by the lower house on 10 December, provides for reduced sentences for those convicted of anti-democratic acts, including those involved in the attempted coup of 8 January 2023. "We cannot grant amnesty to thieves, to traffickers, to those who want to enrich themselves at the expense of the suffering of our people," said Bira, a trade union leader. The text passed by the Chamber proposes unifying offences, aligning the crime of ‘coup d’etat’ which carries higher sentences of 4 to 12 years with that of ‘violent abolition of the Democratic Rule of Law’, subject to 4 to 8 year terms, in order to avoid parallel punishments. It also speeds up sentence progression by allowing for release after the serving of one-sixth of the sentence, instead of the current one-quarter. "We will not allow an amnesty to happen again in our country. Because the truth is that Congress wants to push through an amnesty, two years for those who attempted to carry out a coup in our country," said protester Katlen. If the bill is also approved by the Senate, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro could benefit from a reduction in his total sentence, which would decrease by 6 years and 6 months, following the removal of the offence of violent abolition. In addition, changes to sentence serving rules would reduce the minimum time served in prison from 25 percent to 16 percent, which could allow the former head of state to spend around two years and six months in prison before becoming eligible for ‘semi-open’ or house arrest regimes, according to estimates by the bill's sponsor, lawmaker Paulinho da Forca (Solidariedade-SP)."