Tens of thousands of people gathered across Brazil's main cities on Sunday to protest against a bill that - if passed - would reduce the time former President Jair Bolsonaro will spend in jail.

The former president is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup d'etat after he lost the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

One of the lawmakers backing the bill told AFP news agency it could lead to Bolsonaro's sentence being shortened to two years and four months in prison.

Last week, chaos erupted as conservative lawmakers pushed it through the lower house of Congress. It is expected to go before the Senate later this week.

Protesters took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Salvador and other cities to show their rejection of the bill.