Paraguayan leader facing charges
Paraguay's opposition-controlled Senate is hearing impeachment
charges against President Fernando Lugo, following deadly clashes last
week.
Paraguay's President Lugo impeachment trial under way
Mr Lugo's supporters, many of them poor peasants, gathered to protest against the trial
Lawyers representing Paraguay's left-wing President Fernando Lugo have begun his defence in impeachment proceedings.
Mr Lugo, who asked the Supreme Court to stop the trial, announced he was not going to defend himself in person.Both houses of parliament voted on Thursday to begin impeachment proceedings over his handling of clashes between farmers and police in which at least 17 people died.
His 2008 election ended 61 years of rule by the right-wing Colorado party.
A vote is expected at 16:30 (20:30 GMT), with a two-thirds majority need to remove Mr Lugo from office.
The impeachment trial is being held in the upper house of parliament, the Senate.
The two main political parties, Colorado and Liberal, have put aside their differences and voted in favour of the motion to begin the impeachment trial.
The Liberals are part of Mr Lugo's ruling coalition.
The vote in the House of Deputies was passed with an overwhelming 76-1 majority. Reports suggest only five out of 45 senators support Mr Lugo, who has likened the impeachment bid to a coup.
In an appeal filed with Paraguay's Supreme Court on Friday, Mr Lugo's lawyers said the proceedings do not ensure due process, and that the president should be granted more time to prepare.
"The president has been given fewer guarantees and fewer rights to defend himself than someone with a traffic fine," one of Mr Lugo's lawyers, Adolfo Ferreiro, told the AP news agency.
The Senate's decision to schedule the trial for Friday gave Mr Lugo less than 24 hours to ready a defence.
A centre-right legislator, Carlos Maria, denied allegations of unconstitutionality. "There's nothing illegal here, there's no constitutional rupture, no coup," he told AP.
Supporters of Mr Lugo gathered amid tight security outside the National Congress building in the capital Asuncion before the trial was due to start.
If Mr Lugo is impeached, Vice-President Federico Franco would take over as president until the end of Mr Lugo's five-year term in 2013.
There are fears the vote could prompt violent street protests.
'Poor performance' The impeachment motion accuses Mr Lugo of a "poor performance" during the forced land eviction last Friday, in which seven police officers and at least nine farmers were killed.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo says the impeachment move is tantamount to a coup
The Union of South American Nations has send an urgent mission of foreign ministers to Paraguay to "ensure the right to defend democracy".
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa warned that the regional bloc could invoke its "democracy clause" to sever ties with Paraguay and even close its borders if Mr Lugo is not tried according to "due process".
BBC regional analyst Leonardo Rocha says South American countries are worried that Mr Lugo, Paraguay's first left-wing president, is the victim of a political trial by the Colorado party and other right-wing groups.
Land clashes During the clashes in eastern Canindeyu province that prompted the impeachment move, more than 300 police officers tried to evict 150 landless farmers from an estate owned by a wealthy businessman who is also a political opponent of Mr Lugo.
The eviction escalated into violence and the farmers opened fire on the police.
The farmers have argued the land was illegally taken during the 1954-1989 military rule of Gen Alfredo Stroessner and distributed among his allies.
Land disputes are not unusual in Paraguay, where a small fraction of the population owns about 80% of the land.
Mr Lugo - a former Catholic bishop who abandoned priesthood to enter politics - campaigned for the needs of the poor.
Before being elected in 2008, he promised land for some 87,000 landless families.
On Wednesday, in an attempt to calm tensions over the incident, Mr Lugo said he would open an investigation into what happened.
His term ends in August 2013 and the next presidential elections are due in April of that year.
COPIADO : http://www.bbc.co.uk
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