Court accepts new charges against suspended mayor.
By majority vote, the Full Court of the Court of Justice (TJ) of Alagoas accepted the complaint filed by the State Public Prosecutor's Office (MPE) against the – suspended – mayor of Rio Largo, Toninho Lins, accused of irregular hiring of employees for commissioned positions and disrespect for the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF). Only three judges voted against accepting the complaint, during the session held on Tuesday morning (24).
Alagoas247 - On August 20th, the full court met and began the discussion, but Judge Kléver Loureiro requested a review of the case, and the judgment was postponed. Previously, Judge Tutmés Airan had questioned the Public Prosecutor's Office's accusation, arguing that an investigation by that body depended on authorization from the Court of Justice. This argument was put to a vote, and before the request for review, four judges had already rejected Tutmés's questioning. These were: Fernando Tourinho (rapporteur), Otávio Praxedes, Pedro Augusto, and the president, José Carlos Malta Marques.
The judges Otávio Leão Praxedes, Tutmés Airan, and Eduardo Andrade voted against accepting the complaint.
According to Tourinho, the Public Prosecutor's Office pointed out irregularities in Toninho's administration, such as the authorization for 100 appointments when the legislation only allows for 77, which allegedly caused losses to public funds. In its argument, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the acceptance of the complaint, as well as the maintenance of Toninho Lins's removal from the municipal government, reporting that 530 employees were hired irregularly, that is, without any type of entry into public service through contract, public competition, or Simplified Selection Process (PSS). Furthermore, the accused was charged with exceeding the limits of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), thus denying the validity of the federal law.
Prosecutor Antiógenes Marques explained that the then-mayor simply ignored the law in question due to complete ignorance of it. As an example, a technical team from the Public Prosecutor's Office analyzed the municipality's administration and found that, in 2009, Toninho Lins had exceeded the limit from 59% to 64%. "However, I see no reason for imprisonment, although I request that his removal from office be maintained and that the charges against him be accepted," the prosecutor stated at the time.
In turn, Toninho's defense argued to the Court that the facts presented by the prosecutor stemmed from years prior to his administration, despite the temporal analysis conducted by the ministerial body. Therefore, according to the defense, there is no "substantial" evidence to support the charges.
With gazetaweb.com