Government is against bill equating factions to terrorism, says Gleisi

Minister of Institutional Relations Gleisi Hoffmann stated that the federal government is “firmly” against the bill that equates factions to terrorism. The statement was made on Wednesday (5), at the Planalto Palace. According to the minister, the bill would open the door to foreign intervention in Brazil.
“Terrorism has political and ideological goals. Under international law, it provides a basis for other countries to intervene in our country. We do not agree with this, as we already have legislation on criminal factions,” the minister said.
Gleisi also mentioned two projects in the National Congress, the Anti-Faction Bill and the Security Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC). She stated that after the approval of the Income Tax reform, these are the government’s priority agendas.
“I hope the rapporteur really investigates his report so that we can approve it as soon as possible, to enable us to conduct integrated operations. We hope the Senate approves the bill as it stands,” defended Gleisi.
The minister also stated that she had conversations with the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), and with the leaders of the House to urge speed on these two projects.
“We would like to approve these two instruments in November, which would enable the federal government to act in a more organized and planned manner with states and municipalities,” she concluded.
Opposition Bill
The so-called Anti-Terrorism Bill was on the agenda of the Committee on Constitution and Justice (CCJ) of the Chamber and was supposed to be analyzed this week, but it was postponed.
The bill is one of the main flags of the opposition and had already had an urgency request approved, which would ensure a direct vote in the House plenary.
However, the PT (Workers’ Party) argues that the proposal is unconstitutional. To avoid risks of the proposal being challenged later on, the Liberal Party requested a vote in the CCJ as well.
Authored by Congressman Danilo Forte (Union-CE) and reported by Congressman Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG), the bill gained traction again after the operation in Rio de Janeiro that left 121 dead.
The bill includes in its definition of the crime practices that seek to “impose dominance or territorial control,” equating criminal factions with terrorists.
Currently, legislation provides for a sentence of 12 to 30 years in prison for acts of terrorism.