The senator (Podemos-MS) stated that she will publicly apologize to federal deputy Alfredo Gaspar (PL-AL) if a DNA test does not confirm the accusation of rape made against the parliamentarian. In response to a publication on social media, this Saturday, the 28th, the senator said that there is “enough evidence” to register a criminal report, filed with the Federal Police (PF), and defended that the case be clarified.
The senator’s position comes after Gaspar was accused of rape and attempted bribery by her and deputy Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ) during a session of the INSS Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI), on Friday, 27. Gaspar denies the accusations and states that the case involves a cousin who allegedly had a relationship with a 21-year-old woman in Alagoas when he was still a minor. Soraya and Lindbergh, in turn, maintain the accusations, say that the case is different from that cited by the deputy and claim that carrying out a DNA test is a way of clarifying the episode.
When responding to the publication, Soraya stated that there was no intention to slander the deputy and that the measure sought to avoid malfeasance – when a public agent omits a fact from the authorities to protect the perpetrator of the alleged crime. According to her, the issue “is simple to resolve”, as long as Gaspar is willing to take the exam. “If he is not the biological father, I will apologize in public for the embarrassment caused,” he wrote.
The accusations occurred during the reading of the CPI’s final report by Gaspar, the commission’s rapporteur. The confusion began after he rescued a statement from retired Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Luís Roberto Barroso criticizing minister Gilmar Mendes.
Gaspar read a speech by Barroso, in which he stated that Gilmar was a “mixture of evil with delay and hints of psychopathy”. Lindbergh asked him to focus on reading the opinion. “Is this a report or a circus?” asked the PT member. “Deputy Lindinho, we are not talking about Odebrecht”, said Gaspar. “You rapist,” Lindbergh responded. “Shut up, criminal”, replied the rapporteur.
The accusation caused turmoil in the session, which was interrupted so that the rapporteur could defend himself. Subsequently, Lindbergh and Soraya sent a request for an investigation against Gaspar to the Federal Police, which states that the case involves a cousin, and not him, on dates different from those mentioned and without the occurrence of rape.
Continues after advertising
What the accusers say
Lindbergh and Soraya accuse Gaspar of raping a 13-year-old girl eight years ago, who allegedly became pregnant. The victim would now be 21 years old and the child, 8.
They also claim that the child’s grandmother was registered as the mother, since the teenager was too young to take care of the baby. The parliamentarians say that this “reinforces the need for prompt documentary and biological verification of the facts”.
They say they sent prints of conversations and “additional information” to the PF showing that a Gaspar intermediary had tried to buy the victim’s silence.
This intermediary allegedly made a payment of R$70,000 to the woman, and another R$400,000 was being negotiated, “always with the aim of ensuring silence, preventing communication of the crime and guaranteeing impunity”.
Lindbergh and Soraya ask the PF to receive the crime news, acting under secrecy to protect the victim, children and witnesses; the preservation of the evidence provided; and the identification of the person identified as Gaspar’s intermediary.
They also ask for an investigation into the payments, which would total R$470 thousand; the reserved hearing of the people involved; the inclusion of victims and witnesses in the Threatened Victims and Witnesses Protection Program; and the investigation of the possible crime of rape of a vulnerable person and procedural fraud.
Continues after advertising
When consulted, parliamentarians say that all supposed evidence was forwarded to the PF. According to them, this evidence is confidential, and none of it was presented to Estadão.
What the accused says
Gaspar claims that the story, in fact, refers to an affair had by his cousin, Maurício César Brêda Filho, who allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 21-year-old woman in Alagoas when he was still a minor.
This woman allegedly became pregnant and, without communicating anything to her family, moved to Rio de Janeiro. The child would have been named Lourilene Pereira da Silva.
Continues after advertising
In Rio, Lourilene’s mother got married and started a family. Years later, when the daughter was 15 years old, her mother would have revealed to her the story about her biological father. In 2012, Lourilene decided to look for him, according to what she reports in a video she wrote sent to Estadão.
Gaspar’s team sent Estadão a DNA test carried out in November 2014, which confirmed Maurício’s paternity. The deputy intends to file a complaint with the Federal Police Superintendence in Brasília and the Chamber’s Ethics Committee against Lindbergh and Soraya on Monday, 30.
