MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A probe was opened against Temer in May after local media leaked an audio recording in which the Brazilian president appeared to be discussing bribes with the owner of Brazil’s meat processing company JBS to hush up a witness in a corruption case surrounding the national energy firm Petrobras. In June, former Brazil’s prosecutor general Rodrigo Janot formally accused Temer of corruption and sent the charges to the lower house of Brazilian parliament.
The charges were rejected by 40 votes against 25 with one abstention, the Telesur broadcaster reported.
Now the request will have to go through voting in the full House and it will need two-thirds of votes so that the Supreme Court of Brazil could open a trial.
The scandals involving Brazilian leaders have been ongoing for several years. On Wednesday, Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was convicted of corruption and sentenced to almost ten years in prison.
In 2016, corruption scandal around Petrobras led to impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, who headed the company in 2003-2010.
