Dec 10 (Reuters) – Brazil’s lower house early on Wednesday approved a bill that could potentially cut former President Jair Bolsonaro’s prison term to just over two years if the Senate also backs the measure, France 24 along with AFP reported.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports. Brazil’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the France 24 and AFP report outside of regular office hours.
Last month, Bolsonaro began serving a 27-year sentence for unsuccessfully plotting a coup against his successor, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after losing the 2022 election. He is being held at a Federal Police Superintendency in Brasilia.
Defense lawyers for Bolsonaro on Tuesday requested his removal from jail to a hospital for “surgical procedures”, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The lawyers also reaffirmed their request for the right-wing leader to serve his sentence under “humanitarian house arrest”.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue)
