14 August,2009 09:41 AM IST | | AFP
A Brazilian TV presenter accused of ordering murders to boost his crime show's ratings said he was being framed by criminals and corrupt cops.
"I'm a victim of organised crime," Wallace Souza said in a telephone interview from the northern city of Manaus, where he hosted his hit programme before it was taken off the air four months ago.
Souza, who was charged July 30 but cannot be arrested because he is also an elected state deputy who enjoys parliamentary immunity, said officials were trying to force him out of politics "even though I got the highest score in the region in 2008 elections."
The allegations were coming from corrupt police officers, claimed Souza, who himself is a former policeman forced out of the service after being implicated in a racket over fuel supplies. But the police chief heading the investigation against Souza, Divanilson Cavalcanti said the accused was 'very deft in twisting the truth'.
He said he expected the TV host to face court within the next two months on charges of running a criminal organisation involved in death squads, drug trafficking and gun-running.
Police say Souza ordered at least five murders of drug traffickers in order to bolster viewership of his crime watch show Canal Livre on Manaus television.
