Huge crowds pack the streets to oppose endeavours to help ex-president escape jail
Tens of thousands of Brazilians have taken to the streets to demand no amnesty be granted to their country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, after he was convicted of plotting a coup.
The far-right populist was sentenced to 27 years in prison earlier this month for illegally attempting to cling to power after he lost the 2022 presidential election to his leftwing opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
On Sunday, huge crowds packed the squares and beaches of some of Brazil’s biggest cities to voice their opposition to rightwing endeavors to help Bolsonaro escape jail for his failed power grab, which included a plan to assassinate Lula, the vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin, and a supreme court judge.
The pro-democracy protests were spearheaded by some of Brazil’s best-loved musicians, including a trio of legendary songwriters who were at the forefront of the fight against the country’s brutal 1964-85 military dictatorship: Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil.
