The Ethics Council of the Rio de Janeiro City Council unanimously approved the final report calling for the removal of the mandate of councilor Gabriel Monteiro (PL). He is accused, among other things, of having sex with a teenager and recording the act, in a video that ended up leaking on the internet. The members of the commission spoke to the press, on the afternoon of this Thursday (11), in the Chamber.
At the conclusion of the final report, however, four charges against Monteiro ended up being suppressed: accusation of rape against four women, sexual and moral harassment against aides, use of cabinet servers in his video production company and threats to other councilors. According to the rapporteur, councilor Chico Alencar (PSOL), these facts were not part of the initial complaint and could be argued by Monteiro’s defense as illegal, which could jeopardize the complaint.
“All these items and facts, which are not the object of the complaint, are still included in the general profile, in item 4 of the report, which talks about side facts of great relevance. However, as a conclusive part, we understood that, in order not to generate any nullity, any judicial embargo on their part, it was more prudent to withdraw from there. But there was no retreat”, explained Alencar.
In the final report, in addition to the filmed sex with the teenager, the use of two minors in rehearsed scenes, such as in a beauty salon and in a shopping mall, and the staging of a robbery in Lapa, using a homeless person, who later ends up being attacked by Monteiro’s team.
Councilor Theresa Bergher (Citizenship), a member of the Ethics Commission, said she expects Monteiro’s conviction, mainly for crimes he committed with women and children.
“Today we are responding to women and children. Because they were the biggest victims, in all the elements that we saw in the process. These children and these women need an answer. And this House has to give an answer. We are celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Maria da Penha Law and we know that psychological violence is many times more serious than physical violence”, Teresa stressed.
The councilman’s defense stated that he will appeal on Monday (15), which may make it impossible for the other councilors to vote in plenary, which could take place from Tuesday (16). According to lawyer Sandro Figueredo, his client is 100% innocent of all charges.
“He is 100% innocent. All this articulation came to light after the councilor gave a voice of arrest, after an inspection carried out [por ele] in a public warehouse and he refused [a receber] the offer of R$ 200 thousand. After that, this trailer mafia engineered this whole situation, co-opted Gabriel Monteiro’s advisors who, simultaneously, testified against him, without any materiality, only fallacies and conjectures”, argued Figueredo.
Even if Monteiro is impeached, he will be able to run for federal deputy in these elections. If he is elected, he will have the right to a forum due to the prerogative of his function and the process will be transferred to higher levels, which may take years to be judged.
