RIO DE JANEIRO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Former Brazilian President Michel Temer decided to remain silent when being questioned on Friday, local authorities reported.

Temer, who was arrested Thursday on corruption charges and spent the night in a room at the Rio Federal Police headquarters, has told authorities that he would exercize his right to silence.

The prosecution office accused Temer as being the leader of a group that committed crimes of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering.

The current investigation is based on claims that he took bribes from nuclear energy company Electronuclear, in return for favoring the company with a contract for the nuclear power plant Angra 3.

Temer's lawyer Carlos Marun said that the prosecution has no evidence against Temer and that he will soon be freed again.

"They do not manage, in any moment, to prove anything to justify a preventive arrest," Marun said. "So, we are absolutely certain that this incredible mistake of the courts will be corrected very soon and the president will regain his freedom."

However, former Mines and Energy Minister Moreira Franco, who was also arrested, denied his alleged involvement in the corruption scheme.

Temer, the predecessor of current President Jair Bolsonaro, left office last year. He is the second Brazilian president that has been arrested for corruption, following Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is currently serving a 12-year-and-one-month prison sentence for corruption and money laundering. Enditem

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