Weekly Report - 15 November 2012 (WR-12-45)

The tensions between Brazil’s judiciary and the left-wing ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) plumbed to new depths after the federal supreme court (STF) handed down harsh prison sentences for the ‘political nucleus’ of the multi-million dollar congressional cash-for-votes scheme known as the mensalão. Complaining about the lengthy sentences given to his party colleagues, the justice minister, José Eduardo Cardozo, sniffed that he would “rather die” than spend any time in prison in Brazil. The STF’s pointed reply was that the federal executive itself - via the justice ministry - is responsible for “the hell in the presidios”. Prison reform, long on the political agenda but rarely prioritised, could yet get unexpected impetus from the mensalão.

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