Before approving, in 2001, a constitutional amendment that imposed the rule valid to date, the National Congress prevented more than 200 times that parliamentarians were investigated by the Supreme Court (STF). Among them were figures such as Valdemar Costa Neto, president of the PL, and even deputies accused of murder. The model adopted between the 1988 Constitution and the 2001 PEC approval may be effective if the Armage PEC, already endorsed by the House, advances in the Senate.
According to the text approved by the deputies, Congress would decide whether or not to accept the opening of cases in the court involving parliamentarians. In the Senate, however, the tendency is for the text to face more resistance. The chairman of the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), Otto Alencar (PSD-BA), does not intend to guide the project, and parties such as PT, MDB, PSD and União Brasil point out that they will act against the idea.
Survey Globo In the Chamber data identified more than 200 “external crafts” between 1988 and 2001, whose author are the STF and requests for “previous request” to investigate parliamentarians. The standard behavior of the legislature was to postpone a decision making without definitively voting whether or not it accepted the opening of the process. According to international transparency, the exact number is 253 investigations buried.
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Only one deputy, Jabes Rabelo (PTB-RO), was not benefited by the corporatism of his colleagues. Accused of receiving a stolen vehicle, he could not convince the other deputies in 1991 that he was the subject of persecution.
Among the most emblematic cases locked by the congress, there are accusations of murder. Ironically, even the PEC author who would change the rule in 2001 benefited before. Ronaldo Cunha Lima, at the time of the Paraíba MDB, was accused by the attempted murder of former governor Tarcisio de Miranda Burity. He became a defendant in the Supreme in 2002, after the change in the rule, but then the lawsuit came down to the court of Paraíba and was not tried until the death of Cunha Lima in 2012.
Another example involving murder was with Nobel Moura of the former PSD of Rondônia, accused of killing a trucker. The camera “sat on” the case, and Moura would only be convicted – for other reasons – when she left her term.
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The list of episodes of less heavy crimes than homicide, but starred by chiefs of national policy. Valdemar Costa Neto, for example, got rid of the opening of lawsuits in the 1990s for “crimes against honor”. On Tuesday, all Valdemar PL deputies were in favor of the Armage PEC.
2001 Amendment
Under the presidency of Aécio Neves (PSDB-MG), the House approved in 2001 the proposal of Constitutional Amendment (PEC) that eliminated the previous requirement of authorization from Congress to open investigations in the Supreme against parliamentarians.
The possibility of suspending the progress of the processes became established. In practice, Congress began to carry out control after the opening of cases, without the power to inhibit their beginning.
