Senate Approves Bill that Revokes National Security Law

Text that is going to be sanctioned by the President of the Republic defines new crimes against democracy

Brasília

The Senate approved a bill Tuesday (10) that revokes the National Security Law, enacted in 1983, during the military dictatorship. The text, which also adds a series of crimes against democracy to the Penal Code, passed a symbolic vote and will be sanctioned by President Jair Bolsonaro (no party).

To prevent the bill from returning to Congress, the rapporteur, Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE), did not change the version approved by congress in May and rejected all amendments.

Although the bill had been on the agenda since last week, senators defended the approval of the text this Tuesday (10) as a response to the military parade that took place on the same day in Brasília.

ORG XMIT: 403301_0.tif Estudantes em frente ao Tuca, o teatro da PUC-SP (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo), em São Paulo (SP). Por volta das 21h50, os cerca de 2.000 estudantes participavam de um ato público quando foram interrompidos por 3.000 policiais, militares e civis, apoiados por carros blindados. A tropa lançou bombas e investiu com violência contra os estudantes, que tentaram se refugiar dentro da universidade. Os policiais arrombaram as portas das salas, prendendo e espancando professores, funcionários e alunos. Seis estudantes sofreram queimaduras. A ação policial resultou na detenção de 854 pessoas, levadas ao Batalhão Tobias de Aguiar, das quais 92 foram fichadas no Deops (Departamento de Ordem Política e Social) e 42 acabaram sendo processadas com base na Lei de Segurança Nacional, acusadas de subversão. (São Paulo, SP, 22.09.1977. Foto Arquivo PUC)
The Senate approved a bill Tuesday (10) that revokes the National Security Law, enacted in 1983, during the military dictatorship (São Paulo, SP, 22.09.1977. Foto Arquivo PUC) - Arquivo PUC

The text approved by the parliamentarians was based on a project presented in 2002 by Miguel Reale Júnior, then Minister of Justice in the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB, 1995-2002).

Under the project, the Penal Code will have a part destined for crimes against the democratic rule of law.

Among the crimes are that of attacking sovereignty; attack on national integrity; violent abolition of the democratic rule of law; coup d'etat and interruption of the electoral process.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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