Gospel-singing Brazilian politician may be expelled from congress to face murder charges
Lawmakers seek to strip Flordelis dos Santos de Souza, accused of orchestrating ‘barbaric’ murder of her husband, of parliamentary immunity
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Wed 26 Aug 2020 12.13 EDT
A gospel-singing Brazilian lawmaker accused of masterminding the assassination of the husband who was once her adopted son is facing calls for her expulsion from congress so she can face murder charges.
Flordelis dos Santos de Souza – a favela-born celebrity congresswoman whose rise to stardom was celebrated in a film featuring some of Brazil’s top actors – is fighting to avoid jail after police claimed she had orchestrated her partner’s 2019 murder.
The politician met – and initially adopted – Anderson do Carmo in 1991 when he was 14 and she was 30, and they married in 1998 after becoming romantically involved. He was gunned down outside their home on 16 June last year with the singer, who fans call simply Flordelis, claiming her husband had been killed by thieves.
But on Monday, investigators alleged she had plotted to kill the 42-year-old preacher, with the help of at least seven of the couple’s 55 mostly adopted children. Heavily armed police arrested five of the congresswoman’s children and one granddaughter, but were unable to detain Flordelis since she enjoys parliamentary immunity having been elected to Brazil’s 513-member lower house in 2018.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/26/brazil-flordelis-dos-santos-de-souza-calls-congress-husband-murder-charges
