Majority of the Brazilian Supreme Court Make President of the Senate a Defendant for the First Time

12/02/2016 - 11h58

On Thursday, December 1, the majority of the Brazilian Supreme Court voted in favor of accepting part of the accusation against the president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL).

Sen. Calheiros will be charged with peculation as he is accused of using illegal funds to pay alimony for his daughter between 2004 and 2006.

It is the first time that Calheiros becomes a defendant in a penal action at the Supreme Court.

The accusation against Calheiros was accepted by eight of the eleven members of the Supreme Court.

The investigation on the alimony payments began in 2007 and, at the time, it was one of the reasons that led to Calheiros resignation from the presidency of the Senate.

At first, Calheiros was investigated because he had allegedly paid alimony to the daughter he had out of wedlock with money of contractor Mendes Júnior.

At the time, the Senate's Ethics Council began the investigation and the president of the Senate argued that part of the money he paid as alimony to his daughter came from the sales of livestock.

In November, the majority of the Supreme Court voted in favor of prohibiting defendants in the presidential line of succession from taking office.

The trial, however, was interrupted as Justice Dias Toffoli filed a demand for inspection. As the voting was not concluded, Calheiros will not be ousted, even after he became a defendant at the Supreme Court.

Protestors set off fireworks close to the Supreme Court headquarters after it decided to make Calheiros a defendant in the penal action.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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