The federal police in Brazil have made allegations against Jair Bolsonaro, claiming that he engaged in criminal association and tampered with his Covid-19 vaccination records. This is the first time the controversial far-right leader has been formally charged, with the possibility of more charges to come.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court released the police’s accusation claiming that Bolsonaro and 16 other individuals intentionally entered false information into the public health database in order to falsify records of the ex-president, his 12-year-old daughter, and others in his circle receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.
Amidst the pandemic, Bolsonaro stood out among other global leaders for speaking out against the use of vaccines and disregarding health guidelines, urging others to do the same. His government purposefully overlooked multiple emails from Pfizer, offering to provide Brazil with millions of vaccine doses in 2020. He also publicly criticized the purchase of vaccines from Sinovac by the former governor of São Paulo, João Doria, when no other options were available.
The decision to bring charges against Bolsonaro at the supreme court will ultimately rest with Brazil’s prosecutor-general’s office. This is one of several investigations focused on Bolsonaro, during his presidency from 2019 to 2022.
Bolsonaro, the previous leader, restated that he had not received the Covid-19 vaccine and expressed his composure. He stated, “It’s a targeted inquiry. I am at ease and do not owe anything.” In an interview with Reuters, he declared, “The entire world knows that I have not been vaccinated.”
According to the police, Bolsonaro and his team manipulated the information in the health ministry’s database just before his trip to the US in December 2022. This occurred two months after he was defeated in the re-election by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro was required to provide proof of vaccination in order to travel to the US, where he spent the final days of his presidency and the beginning of Lula’s presidency.
If found guilty of altering health records, the politician who is 68 years old could face a prison sentence of up to 12 years, or as little as two years, according to legal analyst Zilan Costa. The longest possible term for a conviction of criminal conspiracy is four years, Costa explained.
Bolsonaro retains staunch allegiance among his base, as shown by an outpouring of support last month, with an estimated 185,000 people clogging São Paulo’s main boulevard to decry what they – and the former president – characterize as political persecution.
The highest electoral court in Brazil has already declared that Bolsonaro cannot run for office until 2030 due to his misuse of power and baseless accusations against the country’s electronic voting system during the 2022 campaign.
Additional inquiries involve examining whether Bolsonaro attempted to smuggle two expensive sets of diamond jewelry into Brazil and conceal them from becoming a part of the government’s official collection. Another investigation pertains to his purported participation in the January 8, 2023 rebellion in Brasília, which occurred shortly after Lula assumed presidency and bore resemblance to the 2021 Capitol riot in Washington. Bolsonaro has refuted any accusations of wrongdoing in relation to both incidents.
Source: theguardian.com
