Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday fired Brazilian Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship Silvio Almeida, following claims that he sexually harassed several women, including a Cabinet colleague.
The scandal, which caused outrage in Brazil, is the first of its kind involving a member of Lula’s government since the veteran leftist returned to power last year.
“Given the grave accusations against minister Silvio Almeida and after summoning him for a conversation ... President Lula decided to remove the head of the human rights and citizenship ministry,” the presidency said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
“The president considers the possibility of the minister remaining in office untenable given the nature of the allegations,” the statement added.
“I asked president Lula to dismiss me,” Almeida said in a later statement.
“It will give me a chance to prove my innocence and recover from this,” he said.
The Metropoles news site on Thursday reported that women’s association Me Too Brasil had received complaints against Almeida from several women, including Brazilian Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco.
Me Too Brasil confirmed the report and said that the women in question had “received psychological and legal support.”
The Brazilian Federal Police said on Friday it would investigate the claims, while the Brazilian Presidential Ethics Commission said it too had launched an inquiry.
Almeida, a 48-year-old lawyer and university professor who is considered one of Brazil’s leading intellectuals, had earlier rejected the allegations as “lies” aimed at tarnishing the image of “a black man who occupies a prominent position in public office.”
Franco, 40, is also black.
Writing on Instagram after Almeida’s dismissal, she said that it was “unacceptable to downplay or diminish acts of violence” and praised Lula’s “forceful action.”
“We know how much women and girls suffer from harassment everyday, at work, in public transport, in schools and at home,” she added.
On Friday, UOL news site published the account of one of Almeida’s accusers, a university professor who said the minister groped her during a meal in 2019, in front of about 15 people.
“There were a lot of people, I was wearing a skirt and I remember his hand on my private parts,” she said.
“I felt ashamed,” she added.
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