Bandung, IndonesiaSentinel.com — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired Human Rights Minister Silvio Almeida on Friday, September 6, after the claims that Almeida had sexually harassed several women, including a cabinet colleague. The scandal has caused outrage in Brazil. It is the first case involving a member of Lula’s government since the leftist veteran returned to power in 2023.
“Given the serious allegations against Minister Silvio Almeida and after summoning him for conversation, President Lula has decided to remove the head of the ministry of human rights and citizenship,” 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, according to AFP.
The Metropoles news website reported Thursday that the 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 reports and said the women in question were “receiving psychological and legal support.”
The federal police said they would investigate the claims. Meanwhile, the presidential ethics commission said it had launched an investigation into the allegations.
Almeida, a 48-year-old lawyer and university professor considered one of Brazil’s leading intellectuals, has denied the allegations of harassment, calling them “lies” aimed at tarnishing the image of “a black man who held a prominent position in public office.”
Anielle Franco, 40 years old, who is also black, among the ones who made the claims, has not commented publicly on the revelations. Franco is the sister of Rio de Janeiro councilor and human rights activist Marielle Franco, who was murdered in 2018 in a crime that caused global outrage.
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Before meeting Almeida on Friday, Lula had issued a warning about possible cases of sexual harassment in his team.
“What I can say is that anyone who commits harassment cannot remain in the government,” he told Brazil’s Difusora Goiania radio station, stressing Almeida’s right to the presumption of innocence.
It came a day after the government acknowledged the “seriousness” of the claims against the minister and promised they would be dealt with “with the rigor and speed that situations of possible violence against women demand.”
Almedia’s wife, Edneia Carvalho, who 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 harassment 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 2024, federal police recommended that Communications Minister Juscelino Filho be charged with corruption and abetting criminals.
Filho has denied the allegations and has so far retained his post.
(Raidi/Agung)
