Governor of Rio de Janeiro definitively removed from office for corruption in pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A special court, formed by judges and state legislators, unanimously impeached, on Friday, April 30, the suspended governor of Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel, for corruption during the management of the coronavirus pandemic in that Brazilian state.

The decision culminated a long impeachment trial opened in June last year in the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro against Witzel, who was already suspended from office by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

The special mixed court in charge of deciding on the impeachment, composed of five regional assemblymen and five court judges, found Witzel guilty of irregularities in several contracts and embezzlement of public resources destined for Covid-19.

According to official data, Rio de Janeiro is one of the Brazilian states most affected by the pandemic, with almost 44,500 deaths and more than 740,000 cases of coronavirus.

Witzel’s dismissal confirms that deputy governor Claudio Castro, who is also suspected of corruption, will be installed as governor of Rio until the 2022 elections.

The court will now decide whether to strip Witzel of his political rights, which could prevent him from running in elections for up to five years.

Witzel, a former judge and one-time naval rifleman, was elected governor of Rio in 2018 on a promise to employ a “hard hand” against crime and under the banner of zero tolerance against corruption.

He initially positioned himself as an ally of the Brazilian president, right-wing Jair Bolsonaro, although he later distanced himself to become an opponent of his government.

With the outbreak of the pandemic, Witzel was the target of police operations for allegedly diverting public resources intended to construct field hospitals for patients with Covid-19.

He was also accused of orchestrating a “criminal organization” dedicated to corruption and receiving bribes from a businessman who was awarded several emergency contracts to deal with the pandemic.

Based on these investigations, opposition deputies asked the state assembly to initiate an impeachment process, which was finally concluded Friday.

Witzel always denied the charges against him and declared himself the victim of a “persecution” promoted, according to him, by the high spheres of the State. Likewise, he qualified his dismissal as a “coup”.

“I was not subjected to a court of a State of law, but an inquisitorial court”, the now ex-governor complained on his social networks.

Rio, Brazil’s third most populous state, with some 17.3 million inhabitants, has suffered for decades with corruption in politics.

Like Witzel, five of his predecessors in the governorship of Rio were also investigated for corruption: Wellington Moreira Franco (1987-1991), Anthony Garotinho (1999-2002), Rosinha Matheus (2003-2006), Sergio Cabral (2007-2014) and Luiz Fernando Pezão (2014-2018).