President Temer Accuses Prosecutor General of Persecution

08/09/2017 - 10h32

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CAMILA MATTOSO

BELA MEGALE

FROM BRASÍLIA

Brazilian president Michel Temer requested the Federal Supreme Court to disqualify the Prosecutor General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot. The president stated Janot's actions show an "obsessive persecution conduct" in order to involve Temer in criminal acts.

A request was submitted to minister Edson Fachin on Tuesday (8), amid investigations regarding the so called "Quadrilhão" ("The Big Gang") of PMDB.

There is no expected date for Fachin's decision. In the event the minister rejects the request, the defense is likely to file an appeal with the en banc Court. Janot is yet to issue a statement.

"We have been witnessing an obsessive persecution conduct", wrote Antônio Cláudio Mariz, Temer's attorney.

According to him, the peak of the of the conflict was when the Prosecutor General stated "as long as we have bamboo, arrows will fly", at a journalist congress in São Paulo.

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Mariz informed the STF that "it has become public and well-known that the role of the Prosecutor General of the Republic, in cases involving the president, has considerably exceeded his constitutional and legal limits inherent to his position."

The attorney also questions the lack of "obvious measures," such as the analysis of the audio recording submitted by businessman Joesley Batista - the expert investigation was solely performed after the plea bargaining had been signed and investigations launched.

Mariz stressed that the audio does not implicate the president, seeing there is no concrete evidence, only "mere assumptions" by the Prosecutor General regarding Temer's actions.

Translated by ANA BEATRIZ DEMARIA

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