Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who is recovering from a complex surgery that lasted 12 hours, attended a peaceful rally in Brasilia on Wednesday, advocating for forgiveness for those involved in the January 8 riots.
After spending three weeks in recovery, Bolsonaro was discharged from DF Star Hospital in Brasilia on Sunday. This surgery aimed to address complications from a prior attempt to assassinate him in September 2018, which had led to intestinal issues. His medical team described this recent procedure as the most complicated yet since the emergency surgery following the assassination attempt.
Just before leaving the hospital, Bolsonaro shared on social media his plans to participate in Wednesday’s rally. He sought pardon for around 900 individuals imprisoned for their roles in the January 8 incidents, where thousands of his supporters stormed the Parliament, the Supreme Federal Court (STF), and the Presidential Palace, causing significant damage. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, only minor injuries reported.
Bolsonaro mentioned his intention to continue his political agenda shortly before his discharge. He had halted his activities in April due to severe abdominal pain during an event in Rio Grande do Norte.
Despite advice from his medical team to avoid public events, he attended the rally at Brasilia’s Three Forces Square, the same site of the January riots, where he addressed around 4,000 supporters. Thanking them, he remarked, “We are alive at this time but very saddened. However, we will not lose hope.”
“We all share the responsibility for our nation’s future,” Bolsonaro stated. “I’m merely a tool. I don’t understand how those who commit such evils can sleep soundly at night.”
Supporters at the event voiced their backing for the pardon bill that Bolsonaro had proposed. Meanwhile, Brazilian Senator Alessandro Vieira declared his opposition to an alternative pardon bill that does not fully forgive those involved in the January 8 disturbances but rather seeks to reduce their prison sentences and impose harsher penalties on instigators.
Bolsonaro’s stance is that the STF is targeting those allegedly involved in a broader coup plot against the current leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the wake of the closely contested 2022 elections. He expressed, “Amnesty is a political matter decided by the parliament, which reflects the Brazilian people’s will.”
In the months following the January riots, over 370 individuals have been convicted in connection with those events, receiving sentences ranging from 3 to 17.5 years. Bolsonaro has openly criticized the statements from the STF regarding these convictions.
In particular, he highlighted the case of Débora Rodrigues Dos Santos, a woman who used lipstick to write on a statue outside the STF during the riots. She has denied partaking in any violent acts and is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence.
