CORRUPTION-BRAZIL: Senate Prepares for First-Ever Expulsion

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 22 2000 (IPS) - For the first time in its history, the Brazilian Senate is preparing to remove one of its members from office, as Luiz Estévao, senator and construction tycoon, faces corruption charges following a vote Wednesday by a key Senate commission.

With 15 votes in favour, five against and three abstentions, the Senate Constitution and Justice Commission approved the initiation of a political trial for the Estévao case, which will conclude within the week when the full chamber is to cast a final vote.

If the accused is determined to be guilty, it would mean the loss of his Senate seat as well as his political rights for eight years – an outcome that requires an absolute majority of votes in the 81- member Senate.

The initial proceedings seem to indicate unfavourable results for Estévao. The Senate Ethics Committee, meeting since June 14, voted 14 to three that the senator’s actions constituted “a lack of parliamentary decorum” and should be condemned.

A major force in the construction business, Estévao was elected senator in 1998 for the Federal District of Brasilia for a six- year term.

He is accused of personally benefiting from the misappropriation of public funds that were intended for the construction of the Regional Tribunal of Labour headquarters in Sao Paulo.

The construction project, begun in 1992 and still incomplete, has already cost three times the originally approved budget. An investigation by the Federal Police concluded that the equivalent of 94 million dollars had been illegally diverted.

The scandal erupted when a parliamentary commission was investigating irregularities in the Judicial branch. Justice authorities ordered the arrest of judge Nicolau dos Santos Neto, administrator of the construction project, but he fled.

The two people who were allegedly owners of the construction firm hired for the project are in prison. An informal contract discovered by federal investigators shows that the company in question belongs to senator Estévao. Other documents, including cheques, also seem to prove his involvement in the operation.

In addition to the political trial in the Senate, Estévao is under police investigations for embezzlement and “association for the purpose of committing crimes,” according to the Federal Police commissary in charge of the case, Luiz Carlos Zubcov, who announced the first official questioning of the accused is to take place July 3.

Estévao has parliamentary immunity and may only be subject to criminal trial with the authorisation of the Senate. If he is removed from office, he loses this protection as well as the right for his case to be heard by the Supreme Court – meaning he would face trial through normal channels in the lower courts.

In the Senate, which has remained relatively untouched by accusations of corruption, the charge of breaking with parliamentary decorum does not require legal verification. Strong indications that Estévao has acted in an irregular or illegal manner contrary to the principles that guide the behaviour of public officials are enough.

The Constitution and Justice Commission is only assessing the validity of the proceedings, not the accusations, which were already deemed reasonable by the Senate Ethics Committee. The full session of the Senate must then decide if it will accept the recommendation to suspend the political rights of the accused.

Estévao claims he is the victim of “incoherent accusations” and false rumours spread by his enemies. He pointed out that he was the most-voted senator in the Federal District, with 460,000 votes, far ahead of the other two senators elected in the same round of balloting.

It was a “rash decision” by the Senate commission, he says. Estévao is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), which controls one third of the Senate seats.

The president of Congress, Antonio Carlos Magalhaes, has said he is in favour of Estévao’s removal: “My duty is to defend the Senate.”

A decision against Estévao would be the first case in the 176 years of Congress in which the political rights would be stripped from a member of the Brazilian Senate, the traditional realm of experienced politicians entrusted with defending the interests of the states they represent. In Brazil there are three senators for each of the 27 states.

Estévao, 50, began his political career by running for a Senate seat after making his fortune in the construction industry in Brasilia, a city of explosive growth where land values skyrocketed in just a few years.

In 1992, he was mentioned in the corruption scandal that led to the removal of Fernando Collor de Mello from the presidency.

To justify his excessive personal expenditures, Collor de Mello, accused of misappropriating public funds and taking bribes on government contracts, said he had obtained a loan from business contacts, Estévao among them.

Since then, Brazil has been through a stop-start process to clean up its political institutions. Several legislative deputies have already been proscribed or imprisoned, or were forced to resign in order to maintain political immunity – though giving up the right to run in future elections.

Corruption and complicity with drug trafficking and organised crime have been the most common charges against the legislators.

Local officials have also faced legal or parliamentary trial, costing many of them their political posts. Sao Paulo mayor Celso Pitta spent two weeks stripped of his power due to a legal ruling, and now faces proceedings in the Municipal Council for his removal from office.