The presidents of Brazil’s two houses of congress live side by side in modern mansions in Brasília, the capital. In May they built a door in the wall that divides their gardens, so they could meet without attracting notice. The political mood was fevered.
Brazil's Supreme Court decided on Thursday to end the mandatory imprisonment of convicted criminals after they lose their first appeal, restoring the previous rule that they should be allowed to exhaust all their appeal options before being locked up.
Supreme Court judges in Brazil began voting Wednesday on whether to overturn a law requiring convicted criminals to go to jail after losing their first appeal, instead of waiting until the end of the legal process. A favorable ruling could result in the freeing of scores of convicts, including leftist former president Lula da Silva, who is serving eight years and 10 months for corruption.
Eike Batista, formerly Brazil’s richest man, was sentenced to an additional eight years and seven months of prison time this week for insider trading. Batista, 62, had already been convicted for paying US$ 16.6m to get government contracts as part of a sprawling corruption probe known as Carwash and sentenced to 30 years, which he is serving under house arrest.
Brazilian Supreme Court justices approved late on Thursday a ruling that may overturn corruption convictions in the country's largest-ever corruption probe. The majority of the Supreme Court ruled that defendants mentioned in plea deals by witnesses also accused of corruption should have the right to defend themselves after testimony of the whistleblower - the right to address the court last.
The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday condemned Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's remarks that Glenn Greenwald, the co-founder and editor of The Intercept Brasil, could “do jail time” and suggesting that he had married a Brazilian citizen to avoid deportation, as reported by a local outlet.
Brazilian justice minister Sergio Moro considered releasing construction giant Odebrecht's confession to paying bribes in Venezuela to harm the country's president Nicolas Maduro, The Intercept investigative website reported on Sunday.
Rig builder Sembcorp Marine said on Wednesday that authorities had executed a search warrant on its shipyard in Brazil as part of an ongoing graft investigation, sending its shares sharply lower.
Scandal-ridden Brazil construction giant Odebrecht, which has admitted to spending nearly US$ 800 million to bribe officials across Latin America to win contracts, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, judicial sources said.
Brazil’s Justice Minister Sergio Moro faced intense pressure on Tuesday after leaked personal messages raised doubts about his impartiality as the judge overseeing landmark corruption cases, with an influential newspaper calling on him to resign.