She will now stand trial with a verdict expected in a few weeks. The votes of two-thirds of the Senate are needed to convict Rousseff.

A conviction would remove her from office, ending 13 years of leftist rule by her Workers Party.

The country’s acting president Michel Temer would serve out the rest of her term.

Rouseff and her supporters say a coup is underway, advanced by Temer’s centre-right party.

Rouseff denies any wrongdoing. She has denounced her impeachment as a right-wing conspiracy. She says an accounting technicality has been used as a pretext to illegally remove a government that’s improved the lives of Brazil’s poorer classes. (Euronews)