Brazil Senate tells OAS Rousseff impeachment case adheres to constitution
Senate hearing that saw Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff formally charged with impeachable offenses
Brazil's Senate submitted a letter to the Organization of American States (OAS) late on Monday (Aug. 22) regarding the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, who is currently suspended from office and will stand a final trial on Thursday (25).
The document signed by the Senate Counsel Alberto Cascais is a reply to an OAS request for information prompted by complaints by the Workers' Party (PT) that the impeachment case was an institutional coup. It describes the steps followed in the proceedings since the case moved ahead to Senate upon the Chamber of Deputies' vote to accept the charges against Rousseff.
Also covered were details on the special committee set up to gather evidence, the laws followed, and the guidelines adopted under the direction of the Supreme Court.
The Senate attorney pointed out that Rousseff was officially notified when the Senate suspended her from office to prosecute the case and initiate the evidence gathering stage, and Chief Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski began to preside over the case.
At this second stage, according to Alberto Cascais, “the constitutional rules were also strictly observed, objections raised, and appeals to the Supreme Court were accepted.” He pointed out that all steps of the proceedings are available on the Senate website for public scrutiny.
Constitutional proceedings
After giving an account of the daily activities of the Impeachment Procedural Committee, describing the witness hearings, expert examination, and documents appended to the case as requested by the parties, including Rousseff's defense, Cascais concluded by saying the proceedings adhered to all applicable legal provisions.
“The constitutional, legal, and regulatory provisions that govern the impeachment proceedings have been observed, and there has been no illegal or unconstitutional conduct in the Senate's actions under the authority conferred on it by the 1988 Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil through its senators legally elected by the people,” the report concluded.
The document was also signed by Fernando Cesar Cunha, head of the Advisory and Expert Study Group of the Senate, and addressed, as requested by Senate President Renan Calheiros, to the Executive Secretary of the OAS's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Mario López Garelli.
Rodrigo Maia, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, had sent a similar letter to the OAS via the Foreign Ministry earlier, providing an account of the proceedings to examine and accept the impeachment charges at the lower house.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Brazil Senate tells OAS Rousseff impeachment case adheres to constitution
