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Brazil’s Temer Charged with Corruption, Pressure Increases

Brazil’s Temer Charged with Corruption, Pressure Increases
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Brazilian President Michel Temer had been charged with accepting bribes by the country's chief prosecutor.

Brazil’s Temer Charged with Corruption, Pressure Increases

He is accused of receiving money from the boss of a giant meatpacking firm implicated in a corruption scandal. Temer denies any wrongdoing.

The charges had been delivered to a Supreme Court judge who must now decide if the case can be sent to the lower house of parliament.

The lower house would vote on whether President Temer should be tried.

Temer had vowed to prove his innocence. He had faced a slew of accusations since taking office last year but these are the first formal charges against him.

The move follows the release of an audio recording in which Temer appears to be discussing bribes in conversation with Joesley Batista, the chairman of the meatpacking company JBS.

If the corruption case reaches the lower house, Temer's coalition believes it can gather enough votes to block the two-thirds majority needed for a trial to be brought against him.

However, President Temer is expected to face further charges in the coming weeks, correspondents said.

Temer is deeply unpopular in Brazil but his center-right party has been able to govern as part of a coalition.

Opposition parties had been demanding snap elections and his impeachment.

Brazilian politics had become engulfed in political scandal in recent years, with a third of Temer's cabinet under investigation for alleged corruption.

Temer's predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, was removed from office following an impeachment vote in the Senate. She was accused of illegally manipulating the budget, a charge she strongly denied.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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