Brazil begins presidential impeachment proceedings

Impeachment proceedings were opened against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday for allegations of violating fiscal laws and manipulating finances. Rousseff's political enemy and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha accepted a request from opposition lawyers to begin the impeachment process. Rousseff denies any wrongdoing and "received with indignation" the decision. A committee from the lower house of congress will vote on Rousseff's impeachment. If two-thirds vote for impeachment, the case will move to the Senate for a 90-day trial. Cunha himself is currently under investigation for corruption allegations and accepting bribes.

Brazil has been the subject of several corruption scandals in both politics and business in recent years. In October, Brazil's Federal Accounts Court determined that Rousseff's government accounting practices were illegal. In September a Brazil court sentenced former treasurer of the country's governing Worker's Party Joao Vaccari Neto to 15 years and four months in jail for charges stemming from his connection to the Petrobras corruption scandal. Vaccari was found guilty of corruption, money laundering and conspiracy, having accepted at least USD $1 million in bribes from the oil company. Earlier in September the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil banned corporate entities from providing funding to political candidates in the future in an attempt to prevent further corruption, calling the practice unconstitutional.

Source: JURIST