Date: Thursday, 10 Sep 1992 17:06:58 EST
From: <TPOWER@vma.cc.nd.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.brazil,
Subject:    Collor recorre ao Supremo 10.09.92

UPI 10.09.92
        BRASILIA, Brazil (UPI) -- President Fernando Collor de Mello,
convinced time and a secret vote in Congress could save his job,
launched an offensive Wednesday aimed at delaying the lower house vote
on his possible impeachment.
        Collor's legal adviser, Gilmar Ferreira Mendes, and his lawyer, Jose
Guilherme Vilela, Wednesday appealed to the Supreme Court to annul
details and deadlines set for the impeachment process by Chamber of
Deputies President Ibsen Pinheiro.
        In the plea, the two lawyers argue that house deadlines announced
Tuesday overstep Collor's right to a fair defense, adding that Pinheiro
created ``a new law'' by deciding the lower house impeachment vote would
be open and public.
        A Supreme Court spokesman said that if the court accepts the plea,
the impeachment process would be temporarily suspended while justices
decide whether to accept the arguments.
        On a different front, pro-government lawmakers asked members of the
congressional constitution and justice committees to review details and
deadlines set by Pinheiro.
        Humberto Souto, head of the government forces in the lower house,
accused the opposition of trying to impeach Collor by violating the
constitution, 1950 impeachment laws and parliamentary procedure.
        ``It is a group of parties that wants to seize power, and that is why
they are trampling on normal existing legal rules,'' Souto said.
        On Tuesday, Pinheiro gave Collor until 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, to
submit a written defense to charges he aided and benefitted from an
alleged extortion and embezzlement scheme run by his closest political
advisers.
        The lawmaker said that if a committee of 49 lawmakers decides the
plea is admissible, taking into account Collor's defense, the lower
house would vote on the impeachment in a special public session,
possibly as early as Sept. 23.
        Two-thirds or 336 of the 506 members of the house must approve the
plea for Collor to be removed temporarily from office. The Senate must
then decide whether to make the plea permanent.
        Opposition forces and all the polls taken by Brazil's four largest
newspapers show at least 355 lawmakers saying they support impeachment.
        The plea, presented by the Brazilian Lawyers' College and the
president of the Brazilian Press Association, is based on results of a
congressional inquiry accusing Collor of accepting some $23 million in
kickbacks from an extortion and embezzlement scheme allegedly run by
close political advisers.
        But Collor, repeatedly denying the charges, has refused to be bested.
        Late Tuesday, the Brazilian Supreme Court received two writs of
habeas corpus in favor of Collor and businessman Paulo Cesar Farias, the
alleged leader of the corruption scheme.
        In the writs, lawyer Murilo Monteiro da Costa asked the court to
cease any criminal action against the president, labeling as
``insufficient'' evidence gathered by congress in its three-month
inquiry.
        Monteira argued that Collor was being ``illegally accused of criminal
practices not being investigated by the courts,'' and further asked
Brazil's high court to grant a ``safe conduct'' to Farias, who is in
danger of being arrested in connection with the scandal.
        The court Wednesday denied the plea to grant Farias ``safe passage''
from possible arrest, calling the request ``lacking in any (legal)
foundation.''
        Collor aides say the president hopes to delay the lower house
impeachment vote until after municipal elections, scheduled for Oct. 3,
when they argue legislators will not be as tied to public opinion that
is now decidedly against the 43-year-old president.
        Both sides say the battle over whether the impeachment vote will be
held publicly or behind closed doors is crucial.
        Government sources predict Collor would get up to 206 votes from
deputies if the ballotting were secret -- enough to block his
impeachment. But if the vote is public, the same sources say only about
120 deputies would cast ballots to save Collor because of public
pressure.
        Whatever happens, the scandal has already marked the worst political
crisis in Brazil since it returned to civilian rule in 1984 after 21
years under military governments.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.brazil