RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Rio de Janeiro State Assembly President Jorge Picciani was arrested along with other two state councilmen on Thursday for corruption.
The three representatives, reportedly involved in a large scheme with local bus companies, are being investigated for corruption, money laundering and capital flight.
The arrest was ordered by Rio's federal court, but a loophole allows the legislative state assembly to revert the decision.
The assembly will hold a session on Friday to decide on the matter, and Picciani's allies are working to free him as soon as possible. Opponents, on the other hand, are working to ensure the arrest holds up.
Picciani and his allies are not the only Rio politicians to have trouble with the law: other prominent figures like Governor Luiz Fernando Pezao are being investigated in corruption cases as well.
In fact, the three politicians were sent to the same jail as former Rio State Governor Sergio Cabral, who is currently serving a 45-year sentence for corruption and is a defendant in a dozen other similar processes, which could earn him over a hundred years of prison.
