A pardon, or more like a free pass, has been issued by outgoing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for police forces convicted of an infamous prison massacre carried out more than 30 years ago.

An official document concerning the pardon indicates that this is a pass to officers whose crimes "were not considered extremely serious" although being committed in the line of duty more than three decades ago.

74 police officers convicted in the massacre at Sao Paulo's Carandiru prison in 1992 are about to be pardoned by Bolsonaro.

Bloodiest in Brazil prison history

On October 2, 1992, after a group of rival inmates clashed, military police took over but ended up shooting 111 inmates in about 30 minutes. Some were shot with multiple bullets and some had dogs released on them. Ballistic evidence found that a total of 515 bullets were found in the bodies.

Lawyers of the officers claimed that they had shot in self-defense, knowing that none of the police officers was killed or injured in what is known as Brazil's bloodiest prison revolt. 

Carandiru prison was closed and demolished in 2002.

Bolsonaro is using all his leftover power nine days before he leaves office, which comes after Bolsonaro's humiliating defeat by leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in October. 

Lula da Silva took the win in the runoff elections on October 30, and after his mysterious disappearance for weeks, Bolsonaro said, "I've been silent for practically 40 days. It hurts, it hurts my soul. I have always been a happy person among you, even risking my life among the people." 

In response to his defeat, his supporters not only blocked main roads but also set up protests in front of military barracks in an attempt to influence the military into preventing Lula from taking office on January 1, which is when Bolsonaro will step down.

This should not come as a surprise, as Bolsonaro's character feeds on inciting violence and encouraging it, as seen in protests by his supporters and in his previous policies regarding Indigenous rights.