Brazil’s federal police have really useful criminal prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro over a plot to forge his Covid-19 vaccine card, partly to travel to the United States throughout the pandemic, the newest sign of an impending investigation into the previous president.
Federal prosecutors will now resolve whether to proceed with the case. If that happens, it could be the primary time a former president has faced criminal charges.
Brazilian police accused Bolsonaro of ordering his top adviser to acquire falsified Covid-19 vaccination records for himself and his 13-year-old daughter in late 2022, just before the previous president left for Florida, where he was to remain for 3 months after losing the election.
Brazilian police said they were awaiting a response from the U.S. Department of Justice on whether Bolsonaro used a fake vaccination card to enter the United States, which could lead to various criminal charges. During this time, most international visitors come to the United States that they had to offer proof Covid-19 vaccinations to enter the country, and a US official said even a foreign leader would should follow such rules.
Bolsonaro has said he has not received the Covid-19 vaccine but has denied accusations that he was involved in any scheme to falsify his vaccination records. His lawyer said in a text message that he was still reviewing the allegations.
If convicted of falsifying a vaccination card, Bolsonaro could face prison time.
The indictment filed by federal police is the primary time that various investigations into Bolsonaro have led to charges.
Bolsonaro has been questioned and searched as a part of several investigations, including the sale of watches and jewellery he received as presidential gifts from Saudi Arabia and other countries, in addition to accusations that he worked with top government officials to hatch plans to remain in power after losing the 2022 elections.
A Brazilian electoral court has already ruled that Bolsonaro cannot hold public office until 2030 for spreading false details about Brazil’s voting systems on state television, forcing him to carry off on the following presidential elections in 2026.
During the pandemic, Bolsonaro has been critical of the Covid-19 vaccine, joking that it could turn people into crocodiles, and as an alternative promoting unproven treatments similar to the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine.
According to an investigation conducted by the Brazilian Congress, which in 2021 really useful charging the previous president with, amongst other things, “crimes against humanity” for his actions throughout the pandemic.
The prosecutor’s office at the moment didn’t bring any charges against him. More than 700,000 people have died in Brazil from Covid-19, the country’s second-highest death toll after the United States.
In May 2023, police searched Bolsonaro’s home, confiscated his cellphone and arrested one among his closest associates and two bodyguards as a part of an investigation into false vaccination data.
In a grievance unsealed on Tuesday, Brazilian federal police said records show Bolsonaro’s personal adviser, Lt. Col. Mauro Cid, and his wife entered the United States in 2022 using fake vaccination cards. arrested last 12 months as a part of an investigation, told police that when Mr. Bolsonaro learned that Mr. Cid had a fake vaccine card, he ordered his aide to purchase one for him too, police said.
Police said records show that on December 21, 2022, an official in a suburb of Rio de Janeiro then entered false data into the town’s health database showing that Mr Bolsonaro and his daughter had previously received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine Pfizer. 12 months. Police said that on one among the 2 days that Bolsonaro was reported to have received the vaccine, the previous president was not within the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro.
Police said that along with Cid, several other allies of the previous president had similarly falsified vaccination records, with a few of them using them to accompany Bolsonaro to the United States. The police also brought charges against them.
Bolsonaro spent the primary three months after taking office in a rented house near Disney World near Orlando.
Bolsonaro entered the United States several more times while the country required visitors to point out proof of vaccination, including attending the United Nations General Assembly and meeting President Biden in Los Angeles, although those 2022 trips preceded a plan described by investigators to to falsify vaccine records.
In 2021, Bolsonaro, who was likely the one unvaccinated world leader on the UN General Assembly, kicked off the proceedings with a speech through which he said Brazil wouldn’t require anyone to be vaccinated. He added that he recovered from Covid-19 because of the usage of off-label drugs.
“History and science will hold everyone accountable,” he said.
During that trip, he and his entourage had difficulty entering New York restaurants that required proof of vaccination. Instead, he did posted a photograph his team eating pizza on the sidewalk. Health Minister Bolsonaro, who was munching on a slice of pizza within the photo, positive test within the case of Covid-19 hours after attending UN meetings.
Flavia Milhorance contributed a report from Rio de Janeiro and Paulo Motoryn from Brazil.
