Chief prosecutor files charges against deputy Jaqueline Roriz at Supreme Court

Last week, the chief prosecutor of the federal government (“procurador-geral da República), Roberto Gurgel, filed charges at the Supreme Court (for the second time) against federal deputy Jaqueline Roriz (DEM-DF). She was filmed in 2006 accepting piles of money from Durval Barbosa, who ran a bribery ring and has since become a state witness. Barbosa has said that the money he gave her was “public.” According to Gurgel, the videotape proves beyond a doubt that Roriz was involved in peculation.

The prosecutor’s office (“PGR”) says it is convinced that Roriz, who was running for a seat in the local legislature at that time, received around R$100,000 in bribes for supporting then-governor, Jose Robert Arruda.

Since then, Ms Roriz was elected a federal deputy with a seat in the national Congress (in October 2010).

This June, a federal Chamber of Deputies council (“Conselho de Ética”) approved a motion to expel (forfeiture of office) Roriz for violation of parliamentary decorum. The vote in the council, 11 to 3, was open, that is, nominal.

This afternoon, a vote on that motion will take place on the floor of the lower house. In order for Jacqueline Roriz to be expelled (“cassado” – removed along with extinction of civil rights) a total of 257 deputies have to vote against her.

Roriz’s defense is based on the fact that the videotape was made before she became a federal deputy. Therefore she did not violate Chamber of Deputy decorum. Many members of Congress are reluctant to punish a peer for something that occurred before he or she took office. The vote on the expulsion motion is secret.