BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO: A Brazilian court temporarily removed Rio de Janeiro state governor Wilson Witzel from office on Friday over alleged graft in the purchase of medical supplies and services to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
The 180-day suspension from the Superior Court of Justice is a major blow for the law-and-order politician who rose from being virtually unknown to win the governorship of Brazil’s second-largest city in 2018.
Originally aligned with Jair Bolsonaro, Witzel has become an increasingly vocal critic of the president and was widely seen as a potential rival for the 2022 election.
The suspension comes on top of impeachment proceedings against Witzel over the alleged graft.
In a statement, Witzel’s lawyers said they were surprised by the court’s decision and were awaiting documents detailing the accusations against him.
In conjunction with the court decision, federal police carried out 17 arrest and 72 raids of premises against associates of Witzel on Friday as part of their graft investigation, prosecutors said.
In an earlier operation in May, federal prosecutors alleged Witzel and his wife Helena led a sprawling criminal operation in which her law firm was used to receive payment from a company that won state coronavirus contracts, according to federal court documents seen by Reuters.
Witzel said at the time he was innocent, his wife said the operation was politically motivated while her law firm said police searches found nothing that could prove the allegations.
One of those arrested on Friday was Pastor Everaldo Pereira, head of the Social Christian Party, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. A high-profile conservative, Pereira has been close to Bolsonaro, baptizing the leader in the River Jordan in 2016.
The Social Christian Party said in a statement that Pereira has always been available to clarify authorities’ questions.
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