Dilma Rousseff Targeted in Brazil by Lawmakers Facing Scandals of Their Own

 

"Ms. Rousseff’s opponents in Congress include Éder Mauro, who is facing charges of torture and extortion from his previous stint as a police officer in Belém, a crime-weary city in the Amazon.

Another congressman aiming to impeach Ms. Rousseff: Beto Mansur, who is charged with keeping 46 workers at his soybean farms in Goiás State in conditions so deplorable that investigators say the laborers were treated like modern-day slaves."

"Mr. Maluf, the former mayor who supports the president’s removal, spent weeks in jail a decade ago on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.

But he was released under a law allowing people older than 70 to face such accusations at home. Then Mr. Maluf won a seat in Congress, giving him the privileged judicial standing that keeps nearly all senior Brazilian politicians with such privileges out of jail."

"Scholars note the sweeping legal protections enjoyed by about 700 senior officials, including cabinet ministers and every member of Congress. Only the Supreme Federal Tribunal can try them, producing years of appeals and delays.

“Winning election to Congress is a license to steal for certain figures,” said Sylvio Costa, the founder of Congresso em Foco, a watchdog group that tracks legislative corruption. “In this grotesque system, the biggest thieves are those who wield the most power.”"

read the article b Simon Romero​ and Vinod Shreeharsha 

Dilma Rousseff Targeted in Brazil by Lawmakers Facing Scandals of Their Own - The New York Times