Brazil's Dilma Rousseff to testify at impeachment trial

 Dilma Rousseff is expected to deliver an impassionate defence later on Monday

The impeachment trial of Brazil's Dilma Rousseff will reach a dramatic point on Monday, with the suspended president set to defend herself in the Senate.

Ms Rousseff is accused of illegally manipulating the budget to hide a growing deficit.
She denies the allegations and says the impeachment proceedings amount to a coup d'etat.
Senators are due to vote this week on whether to remove her from office for good or whether to reinstate her.
 For her to be removed from the presidency permanently, 54 of the 81 senators would have to vote for her impeachment










Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo says it has spoken to all the senators ahead of the vote and that 52 have so far declared themselves in favour of the impeachment.
Eighteen told the newspaper they were opposed to the impeachment and 11 either did not say which way they would vote or were undecided.
If Ms Rousseff, 68, is impeached, acting President Michel Temer will serve out her term, which ends in December 2018.
Mr Temer, who was Ms Rousseff's vice-president, assumed the role of acting president in May when Ms Rousseff was suspended from office pending the impeachment trial.

'Political ploy'

Ms Rousseff will be given 30 minutes to speak and is expected to give a passionate defence of her time in office.

Image copyright AP