Another mayor falls in Campinas.
After the impeachment of Dr. Hélio, from the PDT party, Demtório Vilagra, from the PT party, was also removed from office.
The judge of the 1st Public Treasury Court of Campinas, Mauro Fukumoto, denied on Thursday a request for a writ of mandamus to keep Mayor Demétrio Vilagra (PT) in office. With the decision, the president of the City Council, Pedro Serafim, from the same PDT party as the ousted former mayor, Hélio de Oliveira Santos, will assume the mayoralty this Friday.
The writ of mandamus was requested by the Workers' Party member's defense team during the afternoon, in an attempt to annul the removal approved by 28 of the 33 councilors of Campinas, in a vote at the City Council on Wednesday night. Vilagra's lawyer, Hélio Silveira, informed tonight that he will appeal the decision. On Thursday, Vilagra worked normally, as he would only leave his post after the publication of the Legislative decision in the Official Gazette of the Municipality, this Friday.
The request for removal was voted on by the Legislature after the courts authorized, earlier in the week, the start of the work of the Investigating Committee (CP) approved by the Legislature in August. The CP will investigate allegations of Vilagra's supposed participation in a corruption scheme at Sanasa, the sanitation company of Campinas.
This was the second time the Legislative Assembly approved the temporary removal of the mayor, for 90 days, during the commission's work. On August 24th, 29 council members voted in favor of the removal, but Vilagra remained in office through a court order. According to lawyer Hélio Silveira, the removal has no legal basis and is incompatible with the Federal Constitution.
The Workers' Party member was sworn in on August 23rd, following the removal of Hélio de Oliveira Santos. Vilagra was formally accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office of alleged crimes of forming a criminal organization, embezzling public funds, and bid-rigging, and had two arrest warrants issued against him, one of which resulted in his detention. The arrests were later revoked.