Senate puts off Aécio Neves case to wait for Supreme Court decision

Brazilian senators have decided 50 to 21 to postpone the vote that could revise the ouster of Senator Aécio Neves, ordered last week by the Supreme Court. A request had been penned by five Senators to put off the vote until October 17.

The reason behind the move is a Supreme Court decision to be made on whether, under the Constitution, the Judiciary must wait for permission from the Legislative to impose provisional measures targeting Congress members. The trial on the matter has been slated for October 11.

Since the decision can reverse the Supreme Court rulings against Neves, most senators preferred to postpone their vote in a bid to avert a crisis with the court. Last week, the Senate approved an urgent motion to reconsider the ruling ousting Neves from office and forbidding him to leave his home at night.

Aécio Neves has been charged with corruption and obstruction of justice. The senator was recorded in phone conversations with executive Joesley Batista, owner of  meatpacking giant JBS, asking for $630 thousand in bribes. Batista, who entered a plea bargain deal with federal prosecutors, admitted to having taken part in the illicit transaction.

Neves is also accused of obstruction for suggesting the replacement of federal police commissioners with favorable ones in corruption probes, also as heard in recorded talks.

However, Aécio Neves's peers in the Senate—including members of opposition parties, like the PT (the Workers' Party), former President Dilma Rousseff's party—criticize the ruling as unconstitutional.

Neves, of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), came second in the presidential elections of 2014, with 51 million votes. Dilma Rousseff received 54.4 million. Rousseff was subsequently unseated in an impeachment case highly supported by Neves.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira