Brazil’s Lula vetoes bill that could reduce Bolsonaro’s prison time

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday vetoed a bill that could reduce the 27-year prison sentence of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro for the far-right leader’s failed 2023 coup attempt.

Lula, who had already pledged to block the proposal, announced the decision during a ceremony at the presidential palace in capital Brasilia. It came on the third anniversary of the riots led by Bolsonaro's supporters that destroyed government buildings and helped build the case against the former president.

The Senate passed the bill in December. Brazil's Congress could override Lula’s veto, but analysts say that could be a risky move for lawmakers ahead of next October’s general elections. The 80-year-old leftist president is currently a front-runner in a likely battle with Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, one of the former president's sons.

“We don’t have the right of forgetting our past. That’s why we don’t accept dictatorships, civilian or military,” Lula told members of the three branches of power during the ceremony. “Jan. 8 is marked by history as the day of our democracy’s victory. It is victory against those who tried to seize power through force, ignoring popular will expressed in the polls.”

Lula narrowly won his third term against Bolsonaro, who was later ruled ineligible to run until 2030 for abuse of power during the campaign trail. In November, the former president started serving for his attempted coup conviction, extending that deadline for the 70-year-old leader until 2033. Other cases remain pending against him.

Later, Brazilian Supreme Court's Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin said the riots were an example of how “the democratic rule of law is in crisis in the contemporary world.” He did not mention Bolsonaro or jailed military leaders involved in the plot in his speech.

“It is necessary to resist, always within democratic boundaries, and our pathway must be our institutions. Brazil has given a great example of resilience,” Fachin said at a ceremony in the court.

The country's top court says it opened more than 1,700 lawsuits against participants of the riots, including leaders and protesters.

Lower House Speaker Hugo Motta and the president of Brazil’s Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, did not attend the ceremony. Sen. Esperidião Amin, a Bolsonaro supporter, said hours after the ceremony at the presidential palace he will seek an amnesty bill for those involved in the coup attempt, a move that Brazilian Supreme Court justices have already said would be unconstitutional.

Bolsonaro supporters also destroyed part of Congress during the 2023 riots, often compared to the storming of Capitol Hill by voters of U.S. President Donald Trump one year earlier.

If Lula had not vetoed the bill, the count of attempting a coup d’etat would be absorbed into another charge, which would then reduce Bolsonaro’s prison sentence. Other convicts linked to the coup trial could have their jail time reduced by two-thirds.

Bolsonaro’s lawyers have urged authorities to put him on house arrest due to his poor health. He has been in and out of hospitals since he was stabbed by a man found to be mentally ill during the 2018 election campaign.

Neither the former president nor his lawyers have made comments about Lula’s decision.

Follow the AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

People carry a sign that reads in Portuguese: "Trump get out of Latin America" and "No amnesty for coup plotters" outside Planalto presidential palace on the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center right, and his wife Rosangela da Silva, right, wave to supporters as they descend a ramp at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People hold open a large Brazilian flag during a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, and his wife, first lady Rosangela da Silva, attend a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves after a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, as his wife Rosangela da Silva embraces him, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. Lula's wife Rosangela da Silva walks next to him, wrapping her arms around him. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

DEIR AL BALAH (AP) — Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 13 people, according to health officials, as U.S. President Donald Trump was expected to announce his Board of Peace to oversee the fragile ceasefire.

Health officials and family members said at least one child was among the dead in northern Gaza following several strikes there as well as east of Gaza City. All 13 people were killed on Thursday.

Israel's army said Friday that it struck Hamas infrastructure and fighters in southern and northern Gaza in response to a failed projectile launched by militants from the Gaza City area.

The phased ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remains in its initial stage as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final Israeli hostage in Gaza.

Officials say that Trump is expected to announce next week his appointments to his Board of Peace, which he has said he will head, marking an important step forward for his Middle East peace plan. The process has moved slowly since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect nearly three months ago.

The U.S. official and another official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov would be the board's “designated” director-general. Mladenov is a former Bulgarian defense and foreign minister who served as the U.N. envoy to Iraq before being appointed as the U.N. Mideast peace envoy from 2015-2020. During that time, he had good working relations with Israel and frequently worked to ease Israel-Hamas tensions.

Under Trump’s plan, the board would supervise a new technocratic Palestinian government, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and reconstruction. The U.S. has reported little progress on any of these fronts so far.

On Thursday, Egyptian and European Union leaders met in Cairo and urged the deployment of the international stabilization force. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Hamas still refused to disarm and called the situation “extremely severe."

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which took effect on Oct. 10. Continued Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 400 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

The Israeli military says any actions since the ceasefire began have been in response to violations of the agreement.

Relatives and health officials say an 11-year-old girl who dreamed of becoming a doctor, a teenage girl and two boys in a tent camp were among those killed on Thursday. At least a dozen others were injured, hospital officials said.

Palestinians inspect the damage at a displacement camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the damage at a displacement camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect damaged tents at a displacement camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the damage at a displacement camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians inspect the damage at a displacement camp following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army strike are brought to the morgue at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army strike are brought to the morgue at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hamas militants search for the remains of Israeli hostage in Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The body of 11-year-old Palestinian girl Hamsa Hosou, killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia, is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The body of 11-year-old Palestinian girl Hamsa Hosou, killed by Israeli fire in Jabalia, is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)