72 Lawmakers From Brazil Charged With Corruption
Josephine Roque - All Headline News Staff Writer Brasilia, Brazil (AHN) - Seventy two lawmakers in Brazil were charged by a congressional committee of accepting bribes and advised that they be held under disciplinary proceedings. They have also been connected to plans of falsifying government acquisitions of medical and educational vehicles and supplies. Three senators and 69 deputies will be referred to the Ethics Committee, the disciplinary organ of the federal Congress, the committee said. The lawmakers are alleged of allowing payment of padded invoices for goods or for accepting kickbacks in cash or gifts. The cases may allow Brazil's main opposition slate to gain an advantage before October elections. Corruption has been a vital issue for the incoming elections for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that wants to win with a re-election. Silva's Workers Party has been haunted by corruption scandals at the congressional and cabinet level and forced several ministers to resign. "We are opening criminal proceedings against nearly 15 percent of the National Congress," said Deputy Raul Jungmann, of the People's Socialist Party, or PPS. "I do not know of anywhere else in the world there being such a massive indictment of democracy," said Jungmann. Brazil's federal Congress amounts to 513 deputies and 81 senators. A staggering thirty percent of Brazilians link Congress to the corr |
