Tens of thousands of Brazilians protested Sunday against “shameless” lawmakers seeking an amnesty that could benefit former president Jair Bolsonaro, while pushing to shield themselves from criminal charges.
Bolsonaro was sentenced last week to 27 years in jail for plotting a coup, and within days, the conservative-majority Congress fast-tracked an amnesty bill that could include the far-right leader.
“No amnesty,” crowds roared in dozens of Brazilian cities, holding up signs and wearing stickers reading “Shameless Congress.”
Protesters were also outraged by what they dubbed the “Banditry Bill” passed this week. The law would require Congress to vote by secret ballot to give the go-ahead for one its own to be charged or arrested.
“This protection they seek is to camouflage corruption, impunity,” said Giovana Araujo, 27, a psychology student clad in a blue bikini top in the sweltering heat at a “musical protest” on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach.
Iconic octogenarians of Brazilian music, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Chico Buarque, took to a truck-mounted stage alongside palm trees to sing resistance songs from Brazil’s dictatorship era.
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