Bolsonaro Indicted Over Alleged Fraud in COVID Vaccine Records

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Facts

• Brazil's Supreme Court unveiled on Tuesday an indictment against former Pres. Jair Bolsonaro for allegedly falsifying COVID vaccination records in the country's public health database for his own benefit and that of his daughter.¹
• Police claim that the conservative leader, while in office, ordered one of his aides to manipulate vaccine certificates so that they could enter the US at a time when proof of vaccination was still required for entry.²
• Though people on diplomatic or official foreign government travel were exempt, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry said last year that Bolsonaro wasn't on official state business and had no diplomatic meeting scheduled as he entered the US in late 2022.³
• Should the prosecutor general's office move forward with the indictment, Bolsonaro will face criminal charges for the first time since leaving office. He could face up to 12 years in prison for tampering with public records and four years in jail for criminal association.⁴
• Last May, Brazil's federal police raided his home in Brasília in connection with the suspected criminal efforts to forge vaccination records. Bolsonaro reiterated at the time that he had never taken the vaccine, denying any forgery on his part.⁵
• His health records say that the former president received the vaccine in São Paulo in 2021 on a day that he wasn't in the city, according to the findings of an investigation.⁶

Sources: ¹Daily Mail, ²National Review, ³Washington Post, ⁴Associated Press, ⁵CNN and ⁶BBC News.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Common Dreams. Bolsonaro presided over one of the worst COVID responses in the world as he claimed vaccines were ineffective. It appears his corrupt ways and spreading of misinformation have finally caught up to him. On top of that, he instigated a coup d'etat after he lost in a free and fair election. This forgery scandal is one of many that show his character as an amoral demagogue. Hopefully, justice will be served in this and the many other cases he's faced with.
• Right narrative, as provided by WSJ. You don't have to be a Bolsonaro supporter to see that Lula is using the judicial system to punish his predecessor. Lula is a leftist career politician who was convicted on corruption charges before they were stunningly reversed by activist judges. Right-leaning figures across the nation are being censored, and checks and balances are being curtailed as the legal system is increasingly used as a weapon against opponents. Leftist institutions are being weaponized against Bolsonaro.