"Liar, hypocrite, irresponsible, former senator"
Demosthenes Torres is humiliated at the Cachoeira CPI; "You're not going to heaven, that's no place for liars," attacked deputy Silvio Costa; Pedro Taques raised a point of order and Vital do Rêgo closed the session; after speaking for five hours at the Ethics Committee, Torres argued his right to remain silent; did he back down?
247 Senator Demóstenes Torres (independent-GO) took a decisive step towards his expulsion from the Senate this Thursday morning. When testifying before the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) on the Cachoeira case, he said that, on the advice of his lawyers, he would remain silent. But what is the purpose of a parliament? Essentially, it is for deputies and senators to speak, debate, and express their views. Faced with this absurdity, Deputy Luiz Pitiman (PMDB-DF) gave the senator from Goiás a moral lesson. "If you, in the Brazilian parliament, have nothing to say, then I certainly have nothing to ask," said Pitiman, before requesting permission from the commission's president, Senator Vital do Rêgo (PMDB-DF). After an intense argument, he was released and the session suspended.
Demosthenes presented a defense lasting approximately five hours before the Senate Ethics Committee last Tuesday. Therefore, his silence at the CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) angered those present. After Pitiman, Congressman Silvio Costa (PTB-PE) took the floor and humiliated Demosthenes. Shouting, the PTB member called him a "former future senator," as well as a "liar and hypocrite." "You spent five hours at the Ethics Committee and couldn't explain yourself. But here, in five minutes, you explained everything. Your silence is the most perfect translation of your guilt," the congressman emphasized. "You appealed to God, you called yourself a religious fanatic, but you won't go to heaven because heaven is no place for liars, no place for hypocritical people," he added, addressing Demosthenes.
Faced with the parliamentarians' outburst, Senator Pedro Taques (PDT-MT) reacted: "Everyone here, as parliamentarians, must obey the Federal Constitution, which states that every citizen, whoever they may be, deserves respect. I was a public prosecutor for over 15 years and I am convinced that a parliamentarian cannot treat anyone with indignity," argued Pedro Taques. Pedro Taques' defense caused Sílvio Costa to turn against him. Amid the commotion, the committee chairman, Vital do Rêgo, ended the session, which lasted just over 10 minutes.
With information from Agência Brasil