Voting on the case against Leréia is postponed.
Deputy Sérgio Brito, from the PSC party in Bahia, requested a review, thus postponing the vote to the 21st; the deadline to conclude the work in the Ethics Council ends two days later, and the vote will be open. Carlos Alberto Leréia is facing disciplinary proceedings for breach of parliamentary decorum due to his involvement with the illegal gambling operator Carlinhos Cachoeira. The deputy from Goiás has always admitted to being a friend of Cachoeira, but said he was unaware of his friend's illegal activities.
Chamber Agency A request for review submitted by Representative Sérgio Brito, of the PSC party from Bahia, postponed the vote on the disciplinary proceedings against Representative Carlos Alberto Leréia, of the PSDB party from Goiás, until the 21st of next month.
Since the deadline for the Ethics Committee to conclude its work is the 23rd, parliamentarians can no longer request time to analyze the documents.
Leréia is facing charges of breach of parliamentary decorum due to suspicions of his involvement with Carlinhos Cachoeira's criminal organization. He has always maintained his friendship with the racketeer, but said he was unaware of his friend's illegal activities.
On Wednesday (12), the rapporteur in the Ethics Council, deputy Ronaldo Benedet, from PMDB of Santa Catarina, read the report. He emphasizes that the opinion is already complete, but the vote will only be known next week:
"It's clear that the conviction has already been formed. If any evidence emerges, it could change. If there is a change in the existing evidence in the case file. Based on the existing evidence and the elements of the case file, we have already formed our conviction."
In the report, Representative Ronaldo Benedet recalls that the disciplinary process under analysis in the Ethics Council originated from a representation proposed by the Chamber's Board. This representation was based on the Inquiry Commission, which concluded that there was strong evidence of the representative's participation in mediating the interests of the racketeer Carlinhos Cachoeira, in addition to practices contrary to ethics and parliamentary decorum.
After the report was read, the lawyer for Congressman Leréia asked to speak to reinforce the request to dismiss the case. According to Getúlio Humberto de Sá, there is no evidence of breach of decorum, and the only point detected was the friendship between the congressman and Cachoeira.
Whether or not the congressman will be punished will be decided by the rapporteur and the members of the Council, in an open vote, as explained by the president of the committee, Congressman Ricardo Izar, from the PSD of São Paulo:
"In Leréia's case, the request was for expulsion, but the rapporteur will not necessarily recommend expulsion; that will be at their discretion. They could recommend a sanction, a warning, loss of parliamentary privileges, suspension of mandate, or expulsion, which is the maximum penalty."
If the Ethics Committee imposes a punishment on Representative Leréia, the matter will proceed to a secret vote in the Chamber's plenary session.