House of Representatives disobeys Supreme Court decision about conceding documents to newspaper

The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo has moved a Writ of Security at the Supreme Federal Court (STF) against the House of the Representatives and the Senate, requesting documents that show the parliamentarians expenses. The STF has given the cause to Folha, but the newspaper still doesn’t have access to the documents.

According to the Supreme Court decision, the House of the Representatives president, Michel Temer, should give to the company Folha da Manhã (responsible for the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo) access to the required informations, which are considered public. On the Senate´s case, it is only alleged that the parliamentarians secrecy should be protected. The writ goes from minister to minister, without any final decision, tells Folha de S. Paulo in an editorial.

There´s a resolution from the House of the Representatives, going on since last April 1th, that obligates all the parliamentarians, from that date on, to detail on Internet all their expenses with the so called verba indenizatória money received monthly by them, in order to pay expenses related to their jobs, such as telephone and taxi bills. The documents required by the newspaper are the ones from September through December 2008.

The House of the Representatives and the Senate resist to cede the documents from the immediately previous period [before April1th], under the allegation of preserving the parliamentarians telephone secrecy and intimacy. But the verba indenizatória existes in order to pay the activities that are only and directly related with exercise of the parliamentary mandate, comments the newspaper.