Brazil’s former president, Michel Temer
BRASILIA, March 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Brazilian appeals court will decide on Wednesday whether to grant a request for the release of former President Michel Temer, a judge at the court said.
Judge Ivan Athié said that the Regional Federal Court of the 2nd Region (TRF-2) will decide on the petition by Temer’s defence.
Athié has also requested that federal judge Marcelo Bretas, who asked for the arrest of the former president, expresses his opinion about the release request.
Temer was taken into custody on Thursday, accused of leading a group of politicians that received bribes for years in Brazil.
Temer has been accused of receiving bribes for works at the Angra 3 Nuclear Power Plant. The arrest is part of the mega Lava Jato (Car Wash) corruption investigation.
According to Judge Bretas, Temer is head of a criminal organization that has been operating for 40 years in Rio de Janeiro and his group is said to have received over R$1.8 billion from engineering and construction companies in return for contracts of the nuclear plant.
Along with Temer, federal police also arrested former Temer cabinet member and former Rio de Janeiro governor, Wellington Moreira Franco, Temer’s personal friend, João Batista Lima Filho (also known as Colonel Lima) and seven others.
The investigation was based on a plea bargaining deal made between prosecutors and executives at Engevix company, one of the firms accused of bribing public officials
Temer is the second president in Brazil currently under arrest. In April of 2018 Worker’s Party icon and former president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was arrested in São Paulo, charged with money laundering and passive corruption.
Former Rio de Janeiro governor, Moreira Franco, is the fifth governor of the state to be arrested, all charged with corruption. Moreira Franco was sent to a jail in Niteroi, where another former governor, Luis Fernando Pezão is also being held. — NNN-AGENCIES