Court removes secretary from office of Pedro Taques for moral and sexual harassment.
Judge Célia Regina Vidotti, of the Public Civil Action and Popular Action Court of Cuiabá, ordered the removal of Kleber Lima from his position as Secretary of Communication of Mato Grosso; the decision, on a preliminary basis, was given this week; the removal was in response to a request made by the State Public Prosecutor's Office (MPE), which accused Kleber of administrative misconduct because he allegedly committed moral and sexual harassment against journalists working in the press office of the Ministry.
Lucas Rodrigues, from Media News - Judge Célia Regina Vidotti, of the Public Civil Action and Popular Action Court of Cuiabá, ordered the removal of Kleber Lima from his position as Secretary of State for Communication.
The decision, issued as a preliminary injunction, was given this week. The case is under seal and the full text of the decision has not yet been made available.
The removal was in response to a request made by the State Public Prosecutor's Office (MPE), which accused Kleber of administrative misconduct because he allegedly committed moral and sexual harassment against journalists working in the Ministry's press office.
The request also states that the secretary allegedly threatened to wiretap journalists' phones, with the assistance of the Military House, after strategic information about him was leaked to reporters from news websites.
The accusation of misconduct was signed by prosecutors Mauro Zaque, André Luis de Almeida, Ednaldo dos Santos Coelho, and Roberto Aparecido Turin, who are part of the Public Prosecutor's Office's Nucleus for the Defense of Administrative Probity and Public Assets.
In addition to his removal from office and conviction for misconduct, prosecutors requested that, at the end of the proceedings, Kleber Lima pay a fine to the State Council for Women's Rights and that the State not conduct administrative investigations against the journalists who made the allegations, in order to avoid retaliation.
The lawsuit includes an audio recording in which Kleber Lima criticizes a tenured employee and says that, if it were up to him, he would fire him.
Also attached was the testimony of a civil servant who stated that he had been removed from his duties without justification or reassignment. Other civil servants interviewed by the Public Prosecutor's Office said they had experienced, or at least witnessed, situations of harassment perpetrated by Kleber.
One of the employees even said that the secretary tried to kiss her by force.
The argument for the removal request is that he allegedly reassigned or placed at the disposal of other sectors employees who testified to the prosecutors investigating the allegations against him.
According to the complaint, the retaliations began after certain civil servants questioned the use of state resources by the secretariat to give undue publicity to members of the government staff who allegedly intended to run for elected office in next year's elections.
In addition to the reassignments, the secretary also reportedly prohibited civil servants from participating in protests.
In another part of the complaint, it states that Kleber Lima threatened to illegally intercept a female employee's phone. The threat was allegedly recorded on audio.
Other side
Secretary Kleber Lima declined to comment on the decision. His lawyer, Paulo Fabrinny, stated that he had not yet had access to the decision but indicated that he would appeal.
He defended his client's innocence and stressed that Kleber Lima was not called to provide clarification about the facts at any time.