Brazil slams 2 ex-presidents with corruption charges

The ongoing probe into corrupt practices in Brazil is continuing and this time two former presidents, Dilma Rousseff and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have both been slammed with corruption charges.

Reports say the former leaders were charged with racketeering for plotting to skim funds from Petrobras, the state-owned oil firm.

Brazil’s top prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, alleged on Tuesday that eight members of the Workers Party, including Lula and Rousseff, committed a series of crimes involving Petrobras such as cartel formation, corruption and money laundering.

Read also: CORRUPTION CHARGES: Brazil’s Congress lets Temer off the hook

They were the first criminal charges to be leveled against Rousseff, who was impeached in 2016 for breaking budgetary laws while the news was particularly bad for the uphill battle Lula is waging to win the presidency again.

Only last month, embattled President Michel Temer, heaved a sigh of relief after Congress rejected corruption charges against him, preventing him from Supreme Court trial which could have seen him ousted from office.

According to reports, at least 172 of the 513 members of the lower Chamber of Deputies voted against putting Temer on trial, thereby rejecting a corruption charge against him for allegedly taking bribes.

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