Brazil's Lula fires minister accused of sexual harassment

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday fired his human rights minister, 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.

"The president considers the possibility of the minister remaining in office untenable given the nature of the allegations," the statement added.

In a later statement Almeida said: "I asked president Lula to dismiss me."

"It will give me a chance to prove my innocence and recover from this," he said.

The Metropoles news site reported on Thursday that women's association Me Too Brasil had received complaints against Almeida from several women, including Racial Equality Minister Anielle Franco.

Me Too Brasil confirmed the report and said that the women in question had "received psychological and legal support."

The federal police said Friday it would investigate the claims and the 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."

Welcoming the expressions of solidarity she had received, she added: "We know how much women and girls suffer from harassment everyday, at work, in public transport, in schools and at home."

'I FELT ASHAMED'

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 around 15 people.

"There were a lot of people, I was wearing a skirt and I remember his hand on my private parts," she said, adding: "I felt ashamed."

Before meeting Almeida on Friday Lula issued a stern warning about possible cases of sexual harassment in his team.

"What I can say is that whoever practices harassment cannot remain in government," he told Brazil's Difusora Goiania radio station, while emphasizing Almeida's right to the presumption of innocence.

On Thursday, the government had acknowledged the "seriousness" of the claims leveled at the minister and vowed that they would be treated "with the rigor and speed that situations of possible violence against women demand."

Almedia's wife, Edneia Carvalho, with whom he has a one-year-old daughter, described the claims against the minister as "unfair" and "absurd" on Instagram.

While this is the first scandal involving alleged sexual misconduct by a member of Lula's government, it is not the first time one of his ministers has been accused of a crime.

In June, the federal police recommended that Communications Minister Juscelino Filho be indicted with corruption and consorting with criminals.

Filho denied the allegations and so far has kept his job.