Bolsonaro Faces Potential Chargesโ as COVID-19 Inquiry gains Momentum, Offering Hope to Bereaved Brazilians
BRASรLIA, Brazil – Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is facing renewedโค scrutiny and potential criminal charges stemming fromโ hisโฃ management’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a development hailed by many Braziliansโฃ who lost family members to the virus. The revived investigation, ordered by Supreme Court Justice Flรกvio โฃDinoโฃ in September, centers on allegations of misconduct, including “charlatanism,” inciting crime, misuse of public funds, andโข crimes โฃagainstโค humanity.
The escalating โlegal pressure comes as a measure of โvindication for families who accuse Bolsonaro of deliberately downplayingโ the severity of the pandemic, hindering public healthโค efforts, and contributing to the nation’s โtragically high death toll – one of theโฃ world’sโข highest, exceeding 700,000 confirmed deaths. Bolsonaro’s dismissive โฃrhetoric โand resistanceโ to preventative measures like mask-wearing and social distancing fueledโฃ widespread โcriticism and accusations of negligence duringโ a period of โคimmense โnational suffering.
During his term, Bolsonaro consistently minimized the threat posed by COVID-19, even as experts urged caution and โpublic health measures. “No one knew howโฃ long it would last. Experts called forโค distancing, while he joined crowds,” notedโ Eduardo Scolese, politics โคeditor at the โฃFolha de S.Pauloโ newspaper and authorโ of “1461 โDays in the Trenches.” This approach led to a fractured response, โขwiht stateโค and local governments forced to โimplement their own restrictions while the federal government largely stood aside.
The โconflict between Bolsonaro’s administration and โstate/local authoritiesโ ultimately reached โขthe Supreme Court, which ruled โin favor of allowing states โขand municipalities toโ enact distancing, quarantines, and other sanitary rules.This decision marked โคa turning point, as bolsonaro “began to believe everyone was โagainstโ him, โคespecially the Supreme Court,” โขaccording to Scolese.
A Senate committee investigation concludedโ in October 2021 with a โคadvice to charge Bolsonaro with several crimes related toโข his pandemic response.โฃ Though, the case remained stalled until Justice Dino’s โฃrecent order to expand the police โขinvestigation, which remains ongoing and sealed. The outcomeโฃ of the investigation could have important political ramifications โฃand perhaps led to โBolsonaro’s indictmentโ and trial.
