SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – A majority of Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to accept corruption charges against lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha yesterday, putting him on trial for allegedly accepting bribes on contracts for two drill ships leased by state oil company Petrobras.The ruling, which must be officially confirmed at the end of the court’s session, is a setback to Cunha as he struggles to fend off a request from Brazil’s top prosecutor for his removal as speaker for obstructing investigation into the Petrobras graft scandal.
A bitter political rival of President Dilma Rousseff, Cunha could also lose his seat if an ethics committee inquiry underway finds he lied about undeclared Swiss bank accounts.
Cunha, who comes from the PMDB party that is Rousseff’s main coalition ally, broke with her last year and in December took up an opposition request for the impeachment of the president.
