Anielle Franco gives testimony to the PF about alleged abuse by Silvio Almeida
Minister Anielle Franco (Racial Equality) gives a statement to the Federal Police this Wednesday (2) to report the alleged abuse she suffered from former minister Silvio Almeida, suspected of moral and sexual harassment while he headed the Human Rights portfolio.
Anielle would have been one of his victims and, on the day of Almeida’s dismissal, she stated that she would make herself available to the investigations. She did not comment on the nature of the abuse she allegedly suffered, and the former minister denied the accusations.
Anielle’s testimony takes place behind closed doors and, according to her advisor, there is no plan for a press conference on the statements given to the authority.
The investigation investigating the alleged abuses of Silvio Almeida was opened by the PF and after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) ordered a swift investigation, including by the Ethics Commission of the Presidency of the Republic and the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU) .
This week, the CGU and the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services (MGI) launched a “Federal Plan for Preventing and Combating Harassment and Discrimination in Public Administration” to prevent and address complaints.
In the ordinance signed by Minister Esther Dweck, the plan will be applied to civil servants, public employees and outsourced workers, who will have to make a “commitment to the development of policies to combat harassment and discrimination in their work relationships, as well as in their management, and training actions for its employees”.
Complaints of moral and sexual harassment against Silvio Almeida were received by the NGO Me Too Brasil and published on the website Metropolises. “As often happens in cases of sexual violence involving aggressors in positions of power, these victims faced difficulties in obtaining institutional support to validate their complaints. Therefore, they authorized the confirmation of the case to the press”, said the organization in a statement.
The minister, on the other hand, “absolutely vehemently” denied the allegations, considering them as “lies” from a “group wanting to erase and diminish our existence, imputing to me conduct that they practice” – however, without mentioning who or which groups would be behind the reports.
The day after the publication of the complaint, President Lula appeared quite angry and stated that “someone who practices harassment will not stay in government”, but that he would have the “common sense” to allow Almeida the right to defense and the presumption of innocence. In the afternoon, he met with the then former minister and informed him of his resignation.
Days later, Lula chose PT deputy Macaé Evaristo to take charge of Human Rights, who said she worked in the department to reverse the view that “human rights are for criminals”.
“Unfortunately in our Brazilian society, many people have the idea that human rights are something for those who defend criminals. We have a fundamental challenge to build the action of these ministries. We need to understand the tension between affirmation and denial of human rights”, he stated during the inauguration.
