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Reuters
Brazil's popular justice minister has resigned from President Jair Bolsonaro's government, accusing him of political interference.
Sergio Moro, a former judge who oversaw the country's biggest anti-corruption probe, quit after the president fired the federal police chief, his ally.
Mr Moro said Mr Bolsonaro demanded someone who would provide him with direct intelligence.
Speaking on TV, the president said the allegations were "baseless".
But Brazil's public prosecutor Augusto Aras asked the Supreme Court to allow an investigation into Mr Moro's allegations against the president.
Mauricio Valeixo's dismissal was announced, with no further details, in the official gazette on Friday.
On Thursday, Mr Moro had threatened to resign if Mr Valeixo were dismissed, but then said he would stay if he were allowed to choose a replacement.
Brazil's currency - the real - sank to a record low of 5.50 per dollar, amid the political uncertainty.
In mid-April the far-right president sacked his health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. The minister had advocated social distancing, which Mr Bolsonaro has scorned.
Fighting corruption was a central issue for Jair Bolsonaro in his 2018 presidential campaign.
The BBC's South America correspondent Katy Watson says Mr Moro made a damning speech, accusing President Bolsonaro of meddling in federal police efforts to fight corruption.
After Mr Moro's resignation, the sound of pot-banging protests rang out in cities across Brazil.
Seen as an anti-corruption crusader, he was a star pick when Mr Bolsonaro asked him to join the government.
Earlier Mr Moro oversaw a huge corruption probe which exposed billions of dollars in bribes and ended in the jailing of many powerful businessmen and politicians, including leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
BBC Americas editor Candace Piette says Mr Moro's accusations against President Bolsonaro have thrown Brazil into an institutional crisis.
He accused the president of trying to remove the federal police chief for no other reason than to secure intelligence on police investigations.
Mr Moro also said President Bolsonaro had expressed concerns about supreme court investigations, without specifying which had caused concern.
The court is currently investigating the activities of the president's sons. It has also opened an inquiry into the possible financing of last week's anti-democracy protests by supporters of the president. Both charges could further damage an already unpopular president, Candace Piette reports.
Mr Moro once said he "would never enter politics", but later agreed to serve in Mr Bolsonaro's cabinet, in order to fight corruption and organised crime.
He was promised full autonomy for his department, which united the justice and public security portfolio in a so-called "super ministry".
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiOWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvd29ybGQtbGF0aW4tYW1lcmljYS01MjQxNTg2M9IBOWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jb20vbmV3cy9hbXAvd29ybGQtbGF0aW4tYW1lcmljYS01MjQxNTg2Mw?oc=5
2020-04-24 21:18:00Z
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