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Senate report finds Brazil’s Rousseff innocent of fiscal wrongdoing

Tuesday, 28 June 2016 7:20 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 28 June 2016 7:25 AM ]

Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff ©AFP

An investigation by the Brazilian Senate into allegations against suspended President Dilma Rousseff has found her innocent of fiscal wrongdoing.

A team of independent auditors, comprised of career Senate budget technicians, released a 224-page report on Monday, which concluded there is no evidence that Rousseff participated in budget manipulation, one of the allegations that led to the opening of an impeachment process against her.

The report also said there is no reason to continue the impeachment against Rousseff.

The group concluded that Rousseff was not personally to blame for the delay in transferring funds to state bank Banco do Brasil, a lapse that her opponents say breached Brazil’s fiscal rules and justifies her removal from office.

“There was not any identified act by the president that would have contributed directly or indirectly to the delays,” the report said.

The group also cleared Rousseff of any fault with a fourth presidential budget decree, arguing that it did not impact fiscal targets, and therefore was not illegal.

However, the report concluded that she authored three 2015 decrees releasing additional credits without Congress’ consent.

The report was presented on Monday to the Senate Impeachment Commission, which has 72 hours to analyze it. The body will also start to interview the analysts from July 5.

An overview of the Senate’s Impeachment Special Committee of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during session in Brasilia, on April 28, 2016 ©AFP

The senators, however, do not have to follow the findings in a Senate trial scheduled to be held in August, to convict or acquit Rousseff.

Back in May, Brazil’s upper chamber of the National Congress voted to suspend Rousseff for allegedly breaking fiscal laws and begin an impeachment trial against her.

Acting President Michel Temer stepped up from the post of vice-president and replaced her.

Rousseff has repeatedly asserted that she has fallen victim to a plot by the extreme right, saying that they “want to come to power by an easy route and not through popular election for which we have fought.”

She has vowed to call early elections if survives the impeachment trial and is reinstated president.

If the trial in August acquits her, she will be allowed to serve out her term until 2018. Rousseff has said she would call a referendum on holding early elections if she is reinstated as president.

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