Mensalão deputy João Paulo Cunha resigns
“Mensalão” deputy João Paulo Cunha of the Workers' Party (PT) submitted a letter of resignation to the Secretary-General of the Chamber of Deputies on Friday evening (Feb. 7).
Cunha was the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies when the “Mensalão” corruption scandal broke out. Convicted of passive bribery and embezzlement under Criminal Case 470, the Mensalão case, he has been serving his six-year, four-month imprisonment sentence in Papuda Penitentiary in Brasília since Tuesday (Feb. 4). Meanwhile, he is also waiting on the Supreme Court to consider his appeal against his conviction of money laundering. Other Mensalão convicts serving jail time include former deputies José Genoíno, Pedro Henry, and Valdemar Costa Neto, all of whom have resigned following imprisonment.
“It is with the consciousness of duty performed and based on the principles of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Chamber of Deputies that I hereby renounce my office as a federal deputy,” Cunha's short letter read. It went on to quote Cuban author-journalist Leonardo Padura, “pain and misery are among the few things that, when shared, always multiply.”
A meeting had been planned by the Directive Board of the Chamber of Deputies to discuss forfeiture of Cunha's seat on Tuesday (Feb. 11).
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Mensalão deputy João Paulo Cunha resigns
