Lula changes course and backs trying 16 year olds as adults for the worst crimes
The story
Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, says he now supports lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 for crimes the law treats as heinous. He made the announcement during a television interview with TV Globo on Thursday night.
It is a sharp turn for Lula, who has held the opposite view for a long time. Right now the age of criminal responsibility in Brazil is 18, and his new position would apply only to the most serious crimes.
The timing has drawn a lot of attention. Brazilians go back to the polls on 25 October for a presidential runoff, and Lula is behind. His opponent, the right wing senator Flávio Bolsonaro, won the first round and still holds a slight lead in the polls.
Many people see the change as a last bid to win over voters who care about crime, in a race Lula needs to turn around in just over a week.
Whoever wins on 25 October will set Brazil's course on crime, the economy and the future of the Amazon for the next four years.
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