RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Supreme Court voted on Tuesday to suspend the mandate of Senator Aecio Neves who has been accused of corruption.
The Supreme Court unanimously denied a petition of the Prosecutor-General Office to arrest the senator. But the court, by five votes against two, decided to suspend his mandate.
The senator is restricted to his home in the evenings. He cannot leave the country and must surrender his passport to the authorities. He is also forbidden from contacting other people when he is under investigation.
Neves is accused of receiving 1 million reals (around 631,472 U.S. dollars) in bribes from meatpacking company JBS. He is also accused of obstructing justice during corruption investigations.
Supreme Court Judge Luiz Fux, who voted to suspend the mandate of Neves in the Senate, said the parliamentary immunity which Brazilian politicians benefit from should not be a synonym of impunity.
Fux said Neves should have voluntarily left the Senate during investigations.
