Unanimously, the seven members of the Council of Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum of the City Council of Rio de Janeiro decided today (5) to present a representation with a request for the impeachment of councilor Gabriel Monteiro (PL), youtuber and former military policeman, expelled of the corporation for desertion.
President of the Ethics Council, councilor Alexandre Isquierdo (DEM) said that the evidence of editing and directing videos, with exposure of children and people in vulnerable situations, can configure a breach of parliamentary decorum. “The decision was unanimous based on the facts already disclosed in the media, based on what was discussed and debated extensively by the Ethics Council”, he explained.
According to Isquierdo, information shared at a meeting held yesterday (4) with the Attorney General of Justice of Rio, Luciano Mattos, was also considered, in addition to the presentation of several videos received by parliamentarians and other complaints published by the press. The councilor also highlighted that Monteiro will have ensured his right of defence.
“The Ethics Council is dealing with the matter with great responsibility, with great impartiality, with total isonomy. The councilor himself will have room for ample defense. We are very responsibly making this decision today,” he said.
The attorney general of Rio gave an overview of how the negotiations with the councilors were. “This meeting arose from a request from the Ethics Council in order to provide subsidies for the Council’s work and also, at the same time, for the Public Ministry to inform about the cases that are under its analysis. There are several investigations in the area of childhood and youth, in the criminal area and in the area of citizenship”, enumerated Mattos.
Case
the parliamentarian is target of complaints of sexual harassment, morals, rape and manipulation. The allegations were revealed in a report on TV Globo’s Fantástico program at the end of March.
In a recording for a video posted on his social networks, the parliamentarian appears in a kind of food court with a child in a vulnerable situation, guiding her on how to speak, to show that he was helping her to eat.
On one social network alone, the parliamentarian has more than six million followers. Gabriel Monteiro, from the PSD, was elected in 2018 with more than 60,000 votes.
The Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro launched an investigation to investigate possible violation of children’s rights that appears in the video released by the councilor. The MP states that the recording violates the principles of integral protection of children and adolescents and the social purpose of the internet.
The Public Ministry asks for the removal of the video from all social media of the councilor and asked the parliamentarian’s office to inform the child’s data for the application of protective measures.
On his social networks, Gabriel Monteiro denies the accusations. According to the councilor, millions of reais were donated to vulnerable families and the child who appears in the recording left the streets after the video.
Pending
The representation of the Ethics Council will be addressed to the Board of Directors of the House, which analyzes its formal requirements and forwards it, within three working days, to the Justice and Writing Committee.
Upon receiving the representation, the Justice and Writing Committee analyzes, within five working days, whether the procedural document contains any legal defects. If the representation is accepted by the majority of its members, the Justice and Writing Committee forwards it to the Ethics Council.
Upon receiving the representation, the Ethics Council draws a rapporteur, who cites the represented councilor, within five days. The rapporteur opens a period of ten working days for the councilor to present a written defense and evidence. Once the defense is presented, the investigation phase of the process begins, for a period of up to 30 days, renewable for another 15 days. Once the instruction is completed, the rapporteur gives an opinion within five working days, concluding that the representation is valid or that it is archived. If the opinion is based on the merits of the complaint, a period of five days is opened for the presentation of final arguments by the defense of the accused.
The rapporteur’s opinion is submitted to the Ethics Council for deliberation within five working days, being considered approved if it obtains an absolute majority of the votes of its members.
Once the process in the Council is concluded, with a favorable opinion on the complaint, the process is forwarded to the Board of Directors and included in the Agenda. The punishment is decided in an open vote in the Plenary, with the right to speak by parliamentarians and the defense during the session, decided by two thirds of the councilors (34 votes) in case of cassation or absolute majority in case of suspension.
