Brazilian President Michel Temer charged with obstruction of justice and racketeering [View all]
Brazils prosecutor generals office has filed charges of racketeering against President Michel Temer and six other leading politicians from his party, three of whom are already in jail. Temer and two other men are also accused of obstructing justice.
They practiced illicit acts in exchange for bribes by way of diverse public organs, prosecutors said. Michel Temer is accused of having acted as the leader of the criminal organisation since May 2016.
Prosecutors said the group, all politicians from Temers Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), pocketed $188m in bribes.
Three of them are already in jail: two former speakers of the lower house, Henrique Alves and Eduardo Cunha; and Geddel Vieira Lima, a former Temer minister arrested for the second time last week after police found $16m in cash in an apartment linked to him.
Temer will now face a vote that could decide his presidency in the lower house of Congress his second in a little over a month and if two thirds of lawmakers agree, he will be put on trial by the supreme court.
At: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/14/brazil-president-michel-temer-charged