Brazilian police indict Bolsonaro over fake COVID certificate
Al Jazeera
Facing multiple probes, former president’s first indictment is for allegedly falsifying his vaccine record.
Brazilian police have recommended that Jair Bolsonaro be prosecuted for forging his COVID vaccination certificate.
The federal police indictment was released by Brazil’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, following an investigation that began last year. The probe is one of several potential cases that the far-right politician faces following his term in office which ended in December 2022.
Bolsonaro, who has previously said he was not vaccinated, has been under investigation since last year over suspicions that he ordered aides to falsify his health record in order to allow him to travel internationally. During his presidency he came under fire for dismissing the severity of the pandemic.
The federal police said in a 231-page report that Bolsonaro and 16 other people had plotted to issue “the false certificates to obtain undue advantages” as the virus raged.
There are potential charges of criminal association and “insertion of false data into the public system”. Both are punishable by imprisonment.
