Brazilians protest against bid to pardon Bolsonaro

Tens of thousands of Brazilians protested on 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 had 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.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrated the protests, writing on Instagram: "I stand with the Brazilian people. Today's demonstrations show that the population does not want impunity or amnesty."

Tens of thousands attended a "musical protest" on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach in the sweltering heat.

"This protection they seek is to camouflage corruption, impunity," said Giovana Araujo, 27, a psychology student at the event.

Renowned 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.

Crowds sang along as a blow-up doll of Bolsonaro wearing black-and-white prison stripes bobbed next to one of US President Donald Trump, who has punished Brazil with tariffs in retaliation for the prosecution of his ally.

Veloso, 83, said musicians "could not fail to respond to the horrors that have been creeping in around us."

The artists "were literally boycotted during the military dictatorship, and seeing them here is synonymous with resistance," said Araujo, describing their appearance as "revolutionary."

"Once again, artists are mobilizing the people to demand justice in this country," said Yasmin Aimee Coelho Pessoa, a 20-year-old sociology student.

In the megalopolis Sao Paulo, protesters unfurled a giant Brazilian flag, in response to a US flag displayed at a pro-Bolsonaro march this month.

The Political Debate Monitor at the University of Sao Paulo estimated crowds of 42,000 in the economic heartland, and a similar figure in Rio de Janeiro -- the biggest turnout for the left since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was re-elected in 2022.

Lula's razor-thin victory set off a series of political crises that still reverberate in Brazil today. Bolsonaro was convicted of plotting to bar Lula from taking office, in a plan that judges said only failed due to a lack of support from military top brass.

Congress is pushing to offer amnesty to 700 of his supporters who were convicted of storming government buildings a week after Lula took office in January 2023, a bill that could include a pardon for Bolsonaro.