Brasília - The Post Office CPI (congressional investigative commission) (Comissão Parlamentar Mista de Inquérito) which is investigating charges of corruption in the Post Office (Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos) (ECT) will hear the testimony of the former secretary general of the PT, Sílvio Pereira, who has left his post on a leave of absence while the investigation is underway. He will be questioned about his relationship with adman, Marcos Valério, a partner in an ad agency, SMP&B, which has contracts with the Post Office.

In Brazil, where there is no fifth amendment, a person who is worried about the consequences of giving testimony usually obtains a habeas corpus which protects him from arrest and allows him to refuse to give answers that could be incriminating. Yesterday Silvio Pereira got a habeas corpus.

Translator: Allen Bennett