Brazil’s Lula says he now backs lowering age of criminal responsibility to 16

Source: The Guardian Brazil · 2026-10-16T16:47:35.000Z · Politics

Lula reverses position on age of responsibility for ‘heinous’ crimes in what many see as a desperate electoral gambit Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has announced that he now supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility for “heinous” crimes from 18 to 16, reversing a longstanding policy in what is widely seen as a desperate electoral gambit. The U-turn, which Lula announced during a Thursday night interview with TV Globo, comes with the presidential runoff in just over a week. The incumbent faces an uphill battle to overturn the first-round victory of his opponent, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who remains slightly ahead at the polls. Continue reading...

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