The China Mail - Bolsonaro leads rally at site of 2023 Brazil insurrection

Thousands of supporters of the former far-right leader, who is seeking to make a comeback, joined the march on the site of a January 2023 assault on the seats of power in Brasilia.

Addressing the crowd from atop a truck, 70-year-old Bolsonaro, who recently underwent complex abdominal surgery, declared: "We must not lose hope. We will continue the fight!"

On January 8, 2023, thousands of his supporters stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, accusing his left-wing rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of stealing the October 2022 election.

Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro, who was seeking a second term.

Wednesday's rally was Bolsonaro's first public appearance since leaving hospital on Sunday, 17 days after he was admitted with severe abdominal pain related to a 2018 stabbing attack.

"Amnesty, now!" the demonstrators, many of whom wore T-shirts in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag, chanted.

Wednesday's rally was smaller than the last such demonstration in Sao Paulo in April, which drew 45,000 people according to the University of Sao Paulo, but which Bolsonaro's son Eduardo said drew "close to a million."

It came a day after the Supreme Court handed a 14-year jail term to a hairdresser who used lipstick to scrawl an anti-Lula slogan on a statue during the Brasilia rebellion.

Debora Rodrigues dos Santos is one of around 500 people who authorities jailed over the violence.

"These heavy sentences for innocent patriots are absurd," evangelical pastor Silas Malafaia, a staunch Bolsonaro ally, railed on Instagram.

Bolsonaro, who faces a trial on charges of plotting to cling to power, is pushing for the rioters to receive pardons like those granted by President Donald Trump over the January 2021 storming of the US Capitol.

Kleber Rocha, a 46-year-old welder attending Wednesday's rally, hailed the Brasilia rioters as "patriots" and called for them to be freed.

- 'Last hope' riots -

Bolsonaro underwent surgery last month to treat problems arising from a stabbing attack at a campaign rally in 2018.

While hospitalized he was summoned to present his defense for his trial on charges that could risk up to 40 years in prison.

No date has yet been set for the trial, which will be the first involving a leader accused of attempting to retain power by force since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985 after two decades of military dictatorship.

If convicted, Bolsonaro faces political banishment ahead of presidential elections next year.

The former army captain hopes to stand for reelection, despite being banned from holding elected office until 2030 over his unproven attacks on the reliability of Brazil's electronic voting system.

Prosecutors say the Brasilia riots, which took place a week after Lula was sworn in for a third term, represented the "last hope" of Bolsonaro's supporters aiming to overturn the results of the 2022 election.

Bolsonaro, who was in the United States at the time, said he did not condone the violence and claims he is being hounded by left-leaning judges.

Bolsonaro's party has submitted a parliamentary bill calling for amnesty for all those who took part in right-wing demonstrations over the election outcome.

S.Davis--ThChM