Brazil's Senate began the trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday after a lengthy impeachment process that has paralyzed the politics of Latin America's largest nation and is expected to culminate in her removal from office next week. Thursday's session, presided over by Supreme Court Chief Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, heard witnesses for and against Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, who is charged with breaking budget laws. Authorities prepared barriers to contain demonstrations outside Brazil's modernistic Congress building, but virtually no Rousseff supporters turned out, underscoring the isolation of the impeached president. Her Senate supporters managed to discredit a key witness, a Federal Audit Court prosecutor who led the probe of Rousseff's government, because he had taken part in an anti-Rousseff demonstration. She has refused to resign and said the accounting practices she is being put on trial for were also commonly used by previous governments.

Source: The Star August 26, 2016 06:00 UTC