Prosecutor-General: President must not be probed over incidents prior to mandate
“It means investigation targeting the president is impossible during his term of office over acts falling outside of the exercise of his duties,” Janot said.
In a statement made Friday (Mar. 31), Brazil's Prosecutor-General Rodrigo Janot told the Supreme Court (STF) that it cannot investigate mentions of President Michel Temer in former Transpetro director Sérgio Machado's plea bargain statements under Operation Car Wash. Temer should not be under probe over incidents that took place before he assumed the presidency, Janot argued.
In one of the testimonies, Machado mentioned an alleged 2012 meeting with Temer at the Brasília Air Base, where the president is said to have said he needed funds for the campaign of Gabriel Chalita, of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), running for mayor in São Paulo. Temer was then vice-president.
After the request, Machado says he received $473.4 thousand from construction executives from Queiroz Galvão and transferred the amount to the PMDB. According to the former director, the money was part of a “commission paid” as part of a contract between Queiroz Galvão and Transpetro, a subsidiary of Brazil's state-controlled oil giant Petrobras.
In the communication directed at Justice Edson Fachin, Supreme Court rapporteur for the Car Wash probe, Janot argues that the constitution safeguards the president's immunity against probes into facts that occurred before he took office as head of state.
“It means investigation targeting the president is impossible during his term of office over acts falling outside of the exercise of his duties,” Janot said.
After being contacted by Agência Brasil, the president's office declined to comment on the matter.
*Ivan Richard contributed to this article.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Prosecutor-General: President must not be probed over incidents prior to mandate
