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Brazil's Senate begins hearing testimony of final Rousseff defence witnesses

Xinhua, August 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

On Saturday morning, Brazil's Senate began hearing the testimony of the final two defence witnesses in the impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff.

These are Rousseff's former Minister of Finance, Nelson Barbosa, and Ricardo Lodi, a law professor from the State University of Rio de Janeiro.

Three previous defense witnesses were heard on Friday but the trial was extended into Saturday due to delays.

Barbosa was fierce in defending his former boss, saying that "there is nothing remotely illegal (in the alleged fiscal maneuvers carried out by Rousseff). You cannot act retroactively with a new interpretation of the law."

This line of defense has been adopted by all Rousseff's witnesses. Rousseff has been accused of seeking to hide a budget shortfall by delaying loan payments to public banks and taking out of new loans without seeking congressional approval. However, these moves have been common practice for years, argued the witnesses, and were never held to be illegal under previous governments.

"In 2009, 32 processes for extra loans were opened. They were approved by the TCU (the federal accountability office) without conditions," added Barbosa.

Friday's session was marked by chaos as opposing factions hurled insults at each other, forcing the Chief Justice of Brazil's Supreme Court, Ricardo Lewandowski to suspend the trial for two hours.

On Monday, August 29, Rousseff will take the stand, where she is expected to blast the Senate for a trial she views as an unjust coup.

Speaking to the press on Saturday, Rousseff's chief lawyer and former justice minister, José Eduardo Cardozo, said that Rousseff "would maintain a presidential tone...while showing her indignation at an attack on democracy."

"She must show the injustice of this situation. It is natural for a person to show indignation when suffering an injustice. The president will show, without losing the tone of a head of state...herself to be a woman who always fought for democracy, who suffered prior injustices," said Cardozo.

Concerning the presence of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was indicted Friday on corruption charges, Cardozo said he would be welcome.

"His presence anywhere to provide his support...is highly welcome. Should he come, he would be very important to show that this is a great injustice. This is a process which represents a break with democracy, a true farce," he explained. Endite