\n<\/p>\n
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) \u2014 Brazil\u2019s federal police formally accused President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/a> \u2019s former human rights minister Silvio Almeida of sexual misconduct after he was fired<\/a> over the allegations last year, a police official said Saturday.<\/p>\n The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly speak about the case.<\/p>\n Prosecutors will now decide whether to press charges. If they do so, the Supreme Court will either throw them out or accept them, in which case Almeida would face a trial.<\/p>\n Local media outlets reported that police had formally accused Almeida on Friday. He has not commented since then, but has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Lula fired Almeida last September after MeToo Brazil, an organization that defends women victims of sexual violence, said that it had received complaints of sexual misconduct by the former minister.<\/p>\n The press named the minister for racial equality, Anielle Franco, as one of the alleged victims, and in the aftermath she saluted Lula\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Franco entered politics after the murder of her sister Marielle Franco<\/a>, a councilwoman in Rio de Janeiro, whose killing in 2018 reverberated around the world.<\/p>\n The accusations were a blow to Lula\u2019s government. A Black law professor, Almeida was one of the most vocal people in the leftist leader\u2019s administration against racism \u2014 alongside Franco.<\/p>\n Isabel Rodrigues, a professor in Sao Paulo state, said last year that Almeida sexually assaulted her. \u201cThere\u2019s still a long way to go before effective justice in this case,\u201d she said Saturday on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a victim I have something to say: don\u2019t let go of the hands of women,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Violence against women is rife in Brazil<\/a>. More than one in three women was a victim of sexual or gender-based violence<\/a> over the course of a year, according to a 2025 report by the think tank Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, the highest number since records began in 2017. All forms of violence against women have increased since then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n