RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was questioned Tuesday by Federal Police as part of an investigation into allegations that COVID-19 vaccination cards were falsified to comply with the vaccination requirements of USA.
The police have not publicly named the people against whom their investigation is directed, but local press reports have said that the authorities are reviewing the vaccination cards of Bolsonaro, his advisers and members of his family and whether they have been modified. before traveling to the United States.
Bolsonaro, who arrived at the police headquarters in Brasilia on Tuesday afternoon to give a sworn deposition, has denied any wrongdoing, pointing out that he never claimed to have been vaccinated or presented documents indicating that he was. A caravan of vehicles in which Bolsonaro is believed to be traveling arrived at the scene at 1:30 a.m. local time and left more than four hours later.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the then-president spent months casting doubt on the effectiveness of the vaccine. A police statement on the investigation asserts that the falsification of vaccination records was intended to “sustain the speech in order to attack the vaccine against COVID-19”, but did not provide further details.
Bolsonaro’s affidavit on Tuesday is a breakthrough in one of several investigations against the right-wing former president.
A few weeks ago, the Brazilian police raided Bolsonaro’s residence and seized his phone. Authorities searched several more sites and executed arrest warrants for half a dozen people, including key Bolsonaro allies. One of them was Mauro Cid, an army lieutenant colonel who had been Bolsonaro’s right-hand man.
Bolsonaro told reporters earlier this month that he had not faked anything, saying that “it didn’t happen.” He noted that he was not required to have a vaccination record for any of his trips to the United States. “I did not get vaccinated, period. I never denied that.”
Bolsonaro has traveled to the United States on at least three occasions since the North American nation began to require in November 2021 that non-citizens have full vaccination schedules in order to enter.
Bolsonaro’s legal troubles include an investigation into his role in the January 8 uprising in the capital Brasilia a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office. Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Federal Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace, seeking Lula’s removal. Hundreds of them will be judged.
Brazil’s attorney general, Augusto Aras, said in April that the former president “allegedly encouraged the commission of crimes” against the rule of law, and Bolsonaro testified last month at the Federal Police headquarters as part of the investigation. He also responded to police questions about three sets of diamond jewelry brought to Brazil from Saudi Arabia, two of which remained in Bolsonaro’s possession. A third game was seized at the Sao Paulo international airport.
For its part, Brazil’s electoral court is investigating Bolsonaro’s actions during the presidential campaign, particularly his unsubstantiated assertions that the country’s electronic voting system is susceptible to fraud. These acts threaten to strip Bolsonaro of his political rights and disqualify him from running in future elections.
2023-05-16 23:03:45
#Bolsonaro #questioned #investigation #false #vaccination #card
