Brazil: Rio de Janeiro state governor suspended for corruption

Rio de Janeiro State Governor Wilson Witzel speaking to the press on August 28, 2020. Pilar Olivares / Reuters

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In Brazil, a High Court judge suspended the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro from office for six months for corruption. Wilson Witzel cries out at the plot hatched by President Jair Bolsonaro, with whom he was allied before cutting ties.

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With our correspondent in São Paulo, Martin Bernard

Wilson Witzel falls from a height. The former magistrate, elected governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro in the wake of President Jair Bolsonaro with an anti-corruption program, is in turn accused of embezzlement.

He would have received nearly 100,000 euros in bribes, thanks to fraudulent contracts made during the coronavirus pandemic. A High Court magistrate ordered that he be removed from his post for six months.

The five previous governors ended up in prison for corruption

At the same time, the police carried out an impressive crackdown. A search was carried out at the vice-governor's home, and Wilson Witzel's party leader, known as Pastor Everaldo, was taken into custody for corruption.

But the governor protested: the decision, according to him, would result from an orchestrated political settling of accounts since he cut ties with President Jair Bolsonaro. He accuses his opponents of manipulating justice.

The people of Rio de Janeiro have already seen Wilson Witzel's five predecessors go to jail. And they wonder if the governor, now suspended and also subject to impeachment proceedings before the state legislature, will not be next.

► To read also: Brazil: the governor of Rio de Janeiro arrested on suspicion of corruption

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  • Brazil
  • Corruption
  • Jair Bolsonaro

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