[JURIST] Impeachment proceedings were opened against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff [BBC profile] on Wednesday for allegations of violating fiscal laws and manipulating finances. Rousseff’s political enemy and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Eduardo Cunha [official profile, in Portuguese] accepted a request [JURIST report] from opposition lawyers to begin the impeachment process [Rio Times report]. Rousseff denies any wrongdoing and “received with indignation” [official Twitter, in Portuguese] the decision. A committee from the lower house of congress will vote on Rousseff’s impeachment. If two-thirds vote for impeachment, the case will move to the Senate for a 90-day trial. Cunha himself is currently under investigation [JURIST report] for corruption allegations and accepting bribes.

Brazil has been the subject of several corruption scandals in both politics and business in recent years. In October, Brazil’s Federal Accounts Court [official website, in Portuguese] determined [JURIST report] that Rousseff’s government accounting practices were illegal. In September a Brazil court sentenced [JURIST report] former treasurer of the country’s governing Worker’s Party Joao Vaccari Neto to 15 years and four months in jail for charges stemming from his connection to the Petrobras corruption scandal. Vaccari was found guilty of corruption, money laundering and conspiracy, having accepted at least USD $1 million in bribes from the oil company. Earlier in September the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil banned [JURIST report] corporate entities from providing funding to political candidates in the future in an attempt to prevent further corruption, calling the practice unconstitutional.