Brazil's Supreme Court removes Renan Calheiros as president of Senate

Brazil's Supreme Court on Monday (5 December) ordered senior politician Renan Calheiros to step down from the office of president of the Senate, a court spokesman said. Calheiros has been accused of taking bribes from a construction company.

Calheiros, as head of the Senate, was second in line after speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, as the country does not have a vice-president presently since the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff. Former vice-president Michel Temer has replaced Rousseff since then.

Judge Marco Aurelio Mello said while issuing an injunction that Calheiros ­– who is a close allies of centre-right President Michel Temer – cannot be in power as he was indicted last week on charges of embezzlement. The removal of Calheiros was believed to be a big blow to Temer, whose government has been destabilized by corruption scandals.

The injunction against Calheiros was based on a majority ruling by the high court in November that says any person indicted for a crime could not be in the presidential line of succession.

Mello's decision is applicable with immediate effect, but it can still be challenged by a majority of Supreme Court judges.

Calheiros was prosecuted on 1 December against a case that dates back to 2007. The nine-year-old case accuses the ex-president of the Senate of taking bribes from a construction company. He is accused of agreeing with the company to pay maintenance for a daughter he had in an extramarital affair with a journalist.

The 61-year-old former politician is also facing interrogation in a separate case, where he is alleged of involved in a big kickback scheme at the state-owned oil company, Petrobras.