Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Brazil Former President Sentenced to Nearly 9 Years for Corruption


Thu 01 Jun 2023 | 01:39 PM
Brazil's Former President Fernando Collor de Mello
Brazil's Former President Fernando Collor de Mello
Israa Farhan

Brazil's Supreme Court has sentenced former President Fernando Collor de Mello to eight years and 10 months in prison after he was convicted of corruption and money laundering.

Last week, the High Court convicted the 73-year-old of taking 20 million reais ($4 million; €3.7 million) in bribes from a subsidiary of state-owned oil company Petrobras while he was a senator from 2010 to 2014.

Collor took the bribes in exchange for "irregularly" arranging contracts for a construction company, according to the prosecutor's office.

The former president did not comment on the sentencing; however, a note released by his lawyers at the time of his conviction mentioned that he did "not commit any crime" and expressed confidence that he would ultimately be exonerated.

Collor became Brazil's first democratically elected president in 1989 and led the country until 1992.

He embarked on a program of free market reforms and privatization of several state-owned companies, marking an end to Brazil's era of economic protectionism.

However, Collor's term in office was mired by corruption allegations and he resigned as president to avoid impeachment.