Brazil : Thousands of protesters in various major cities of Brazil have staged protests demanding the resignation of its president’s Dilma Rousseff after a secretly recorded phone call revealed that she and former president Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva suggests that his appointment to a ministerial position was motivated by a desire to avoid prosecution in Brazil’s worst-ever corruption scandal.
Judge Sergio Moro, the lead prosecutor in Operation Lava-jato, a two-year investigation into corruption at the state-run oil company, Petrobras yesterday released nearly 50 audio recordings to the media which prompted chaotic scenes in Congress as opposition deputies demanded Rousseff’s resignation, reports the Guardian.
Police in capital Brasilia fired tear gas and stun grenades to control more than 5,000 demonstrators outside the presidential palace and Congress building.
Protesters waved banners calling for Lula’s arrest.
Lula was earlier appointed cabinet chief in a controversial move that Rousseff said would strengthen her government, but which critics argued was an attempt to shield the former president.
Lula is under investigation for corruption and money-laundering, from prosecution.
In the conversation Rousseff tells Lula that she is sending him over his ministerial papers in case of necessity.
Millions of Brazilians last Sunday took part in the largest anti-government protests the country has ever seen.
Apart from the corruption allegations, Brazil is suffering from its worst recession in at least 25 years, with the economy shrinking.
Rousseff faces separate impeachment proceedings accused of illegally using state banks to plug budget deficits.
There’s another case against her in the supreme electoral court, which claims her presidential campaign in 2014 was financed with cash from the Petrobras scandal.
Political class in the country is under fire seeking to remove her from the coveted post.(ANI)