Moscow - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told the BBC in an interview published on Thursday that she is an innocent victim of an illegitimate impeachment process.
On April 17, two-thirds of Brazil's lower house lawmakers voted in favour of impeaching Rousseff, sending the vote to the Federal Senate, the upper chamber.
The senate is due to vote on holding an impeachment trial on May 11, and the president will be suspended for up to 180 days if the trial is held.
“Yes, I believe, indeed, that I am a victim. And, of course, yes I am innocent. And at the same time, I am an innocent victim. What we in the government believe and what my supporters believe is that the ongoing impeachment process is illegitimate and illegal because it is ultimately based on a lie, i.e. an indirect election under the guise of an impeachment process,” Rousseff said.
The government will resist the procedures to remove Rousseff and ensure that this happens on a merit basis, she added.
Rousseff has been facing a wave of public discontent for over a year amid Brazil's struggling economy and a major corruption scandal in the state-owned Petrobras petroleum company.
The opposition has accused the president of corruption and of violating financial rules by manipulating state bank accounts to close budget gaps.
Sputnik