The first head of state to be elected by universal suffrage since Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-1985), Mr Collor, 73, was accused of taking 20 million reais (about 3.8 million euros) in bribes since 2010 until 2014, when he was a senator.
Brazil’s centre-right ex-president Fernando Collor de Melo (1990-1992) was sentenced yesterday Wednesday to eight years and ten months in prison by the Supreme Court, in the context of the “express car wash” (Lava Jato) scandal, in which construction companies were involved and politicians.
The first head of state to be elected by universal suffrage since Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-1985), Mr Collor, 73, was accused of taking 20 million reais (about 3.8 million euros) in bribes since 2010 until 2014, when he was a senator.
According to the prosecution, about forty payments were made to “illegally” facilitate the signing of contracts between a construction company and a subsidiary of the giant state oil company Petrobras.
Eight out of ten Supreme Court justices last week ruled in favor of convicting the conservative politician. The judge in charge of the case, Eidson Fakin, emphasized that the former president used “his political influence to facilitate the signing of contracts” and referred to a sentence that could reach up to 33 years in prison.
In the investigation, “extremely serious” actions were “proven”, Mr. Fakin said yesterday, on the last day of the trial: it was revealed that public officials engaged in illegal activities for the purpose of “their personal enrichment”.
The defense denied all charges.
The investigation into the Lava Jato scandal has swept Brazil’s political landscape since 2014.
In 1989, when Fernando Color de Melo, just 40 years old, won the elections – with an opponent in the second round against the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – and emerged as the youngest president in the history of Brazil, many expressed high hopes.
But he quickly disappointed Brazilians: two years after taking office, he resigned as Congress launched impeachment proceedings that could have led to his removal from office over passive corruption.
However, the heir to a wealthy political family with a passion for expensive sports cars managed to return to politics in 2006 when he was elected senator in Alagoas, a poor state in northeastern Brazil. He was a senator until late last year.
At the end of his second eight-year term in Brazil’s upper house, Mr Collor openly supported far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The former president has the right to appeal.
Source :Skai
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