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Brazil's Federal Senate president removed amid corruption probe

By Andrew V. Pestano
Brazilian Sen. Renan Calheiros (R) will stand trial in the Supreme Federal Court for allegedly embezzling nearly $28,000 to pay for child support for a child from an extramarital affair. Calheiros, seen here with former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (L), was removed from his post as president of the Federal Senate on Monday. Photo courtesy Renan Calheiros
Brazilian Sen. Renan Calheiros (R) will stand trial in the Supreme Federal Court for allegedly embezzling nearly $28,000 to pay for child support for a child from an extramarital affair. Calheiros, seen here with former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (L), was removed from his post as president of the Federal Senate on Monday. Photo courtesy Renan Calheiros

BRASILIA, Brazil, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Brazil's Supreme Federal Court, or STF, has removed Renan Calheiros from his post as president of the Federal Senate while he faces a corruption trial over child support payments.

Brazilian Justice Minister Marco Aurélio made the decision to remove Calheiros from the post after the court took a preliminary vote to ban politicians who face corruption trials from holding posts in the presidential line of succession.

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Calheiros is accused of misappropriating public funds since 2007 to pay for child support for a child he had in an extramarital affair.

"Minister Marco Aurélio of the Supreme Federal Court granted ... the removal of Senator Renan Calheiros from the position of president of the Federal Senate," the STF said in a statement. "In the decision taken on Monday, the minister takes into account the understanding that defendants can not occupy positions that are in the line of succession of the presidency of the republic, a topic under discussion in the Plenary of the Supreme, but which already has a majority formed in that sense."

Though the case that would formally ban politicians from holding posts in the line of succession has not yet concluded, the STF said the majority in the preliminary vote is "unlikely to change the understanding adopted, which justifies the removal of the current president of the Senate."

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The court decision does not remove Calheiros from his post as senator of Brazil's Alagoas state.

Aurélio said Calheiros remaining as Senate president even after a majority decision was reached provoked "demonstrations of all order, which compromise legal security."

Calheiros was forced to resign in 2007 when the allegations first emerged, but he was re-elected in 2013 as leader of the Senate after allegations calmed. He is accused of paying nearly $28,000 in child support by using a construction company that billed the Senate.

Calheiros is also being investigated separately for alleged involvement in the Petrobras corruption scandal. Dozens of Brazilian business leaders and politicians have been indicted for corruption, money laundering and racketeering over the scandal in Petrobras, a semi-public oil and gas company.

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