RIO DE JANEIRO, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian Senator Aecio Neves, who was suspended from office for being under investigation for corruption, will manage to retain part of his salary, Senate President Eunicio Oliveira said on Wednesday.
According to Oliveira, Neves will still receive his paycheck, but discounted for every voting session he misses. Senators in Brazil earn 33,700 reals (10,274 U.S. dollars) per month, about 36 times of Brazilian minimum wages.
Neves had his use of an official Senate car suspended and his quota of parliamentary resources like plane tickets and telephone expenses was blocked as well.
Neves has been under investigation after being caught on tape calling for a 2-million-real (610,000 U.S. dollars) bribe from Joesley Batista, director of meatpacking company JBS. According to Batista, Neves asked his cousin to get the bribe money in a briefcase for him.
Though not attending Senate sessions since mid-May, Neves is still participating in political meetings of the government with an official capacity. This prompted the Supreme Court, which ordered his suspension in the first place, to put pressure on the Senate to enforce the order.
Neves ran for president in 2014 and was defeated by opponent Dilma Rousseff. Last year, Neves and his Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) worked with Brazil's then vice president Michel Temer to take down Rousseff, who was eventually impeached with Temer taking her place in the office.
