Brazil’s federal police on Tuesday accused far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro of forging his COVID-19 vaccination card.
The indictment alleges that Bolsonaro falsified a public fitness database to make it appear that he and several other members of his entourage were vaccinated.
Police Detective Fabio Alvarez Shor signed the indictment, stating that Bolsonaro and several others intended to use fake COVID-19 vaccination records to “cheat existing fitness restrictions. “
“The investigation revealed several false insertions between November 2021 and December 2022, as well as movements using fraudulent documents,” Shor explained.
Bolsonaro had voiced his opposition to the COVID-19 vaccine while downplaying the effects of the virus on health and the severity of the pandemic.
It is now up to Brazil’s attorney general to file a complaint against Bolsonaro in Brazil’s Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, called the police accusations “absurd. “
“While he was president, [Bolsonaro] was absolutely exempt from presenting any kind of travel certificate,” Wajngarten said, while condemning the “political persecution” against the former Brazilian leader.
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This is the first accusation against the former Brazilian leader, as it is possible that other charges will also be filed for other issues.
The former president has been under investigation lately for a possible military coup plot to stay in power following his defeat to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 elections.
On January 8, 2023, a mob of Bolsonaro supporters stormed buildings representing the three branches of government in the capital Brasilia, several days after Lula’s inauguration. Although his attempt to reinstate Bolsonaro’s government failed, the occasion marked Brazilian democracy and revealed the dangers. polarization in South America’s most populous country.
Bolsonaro is also under investigation for money he made from the sale of luxury watches gifted to him through Saudi Arabia during his tenure.
wd/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP)