Dosimetry Bill Reaches Brazil’s Senate As Street Protests Shrink

Key Points

1. Senators debate the “PL da Dosimetria” on December 17, with rapporteur Esperidião Amin indicating revisions.
2. Deputies approved it 291–148 on December 10, enabling sentence recalculations in January 8 and coup-plot cases.
3. December 14 rallies were far smaller than September’s, reducing pressure to stop the bill.

A bill that rewrites Brazil’s sentencing calculations for crimes against the democratic order now lands in the Senate. The “PL da Dosimetria” is the only item on the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee agenda on Wednesday, December 17, at 9 a.m.

Its four main changes are consequential. It limits stacking penalties for democracy-related crimes committed in the same episode. It allows cuts of up to two-thirds for defendants deemed to have acted in a “crowd context,” if they were not leaders or financiers.

It restores the general progression rule after serving one-sixth of the term. And it expands credits for study or work even under home detention.

Supporters say the bill restores proportionality. Critics call it a disguised amnesty with retroactive bite for the January 8, 2023 Brasília attack convictions and the later coup-plot cases.

Protests Highlight Deep Divisions Over Bolsonaro Amnesty Bill

The dispute played out on the streets on Sunday, December 14. In São Paulo, the Monitor do Debate Político (Cebrap/USP) and More in Common estimated 13,700 people on Avenida Paulista, with a 12% margin of error (12,100 to 15,400), versus roughly 42,000 estimated at a September protest tied to the “PEC da Blindagem.”

In Rio de Janeiro, estimates put Copacabana near 18,900; musicians Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil took part. Organizers included the fronts Povo Sem Medo and Brasil Popular, plus MST, MTST and the CUT.

On the Paulista stage, government minister Guilherme Boulos called the proposal a “shamefaced amnesty,” while lawmaker Erika Hilton used Carla Zambelli’s same-day resignation to attack Congress’s handling of court decisions.

Impact estimates still diverge: some projections focus on closed-regime time for Jair Bolsonaro falling to about two years and four months, while others estimate his total sentence dropping from 27 years and three months to about 22 years and one month. Lula has said he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.