BRASILIA -- A member of the parliamentary commission investigating a Brazilian government corruption scandal said Wednesday that the group has come under great pressure to minimize the number of culprits it names.
Jose Paulo Bisol, one of the most influential members of the Parliamentary Investigation Commission, or CPI, said the pressure is 'terrible.'
It comes on the eve of the release of the findings of the investigation group, which started its work early 1993. Former president Fernando Collor de Mello resigned Dec. 31, 1992, due to corruption allegations.
'The pressure today takes all forms, from anonymous threats to pleas to my family members and those of other CPI members,' Bisol said, adding that the aim of the pressure is to minimize the number of corrupt legislators the CPI names.
'But none of this will sway the commission from its firm determination to ask for the expulsion of those legislators about whom we have no doubts,' he said. He said the commission is 'working to guarantee the same treatment for all.'
CPI bank and reparation subcommittees handed in partial reports Wednesday to CPI Secretary-General Roberto Magalhaes, though names mentioned are coded and will not yet be revealed.
