“Brazil’s Ex-President Bolsonaro questioned by Police in Vaccination Certificate Scandal”

First modification: 17/05/2023 – 01:08

Bolsonaro, whose house was raided in early May in this case, arrived at the police headquarters around 1:40 p.m. local time (4:40 p.m. GMT) in a car with darkened windows and left in the same way about four hours later, without speaking the press, confirmed an AFP photographer.

In his statement before the agents, Bolsonaro once again denied his participation in the alleged scheme to forge covid vaccination certificates in his name, his 12-year-old daughter and collaborators, according to local press reports.

The authorities are investigating an alleged “criminal association” suspected of “inserting false anticovid vaccination data for the benefit of the then president of the republic, his daughter and close advisers,” according to official documents.

The objective was to “evade the sanitary restrictions imposed by Brazil and the United States”, where Bolsonaro traveled with a delegation of family members and advisers two days before the end of his term, and where he stayed for three months.

According to investigations, the former president, who sowed doubts about vaccines at the height of the pandemic – which left more than 700,000 dead in Brazil -, was entered into the records of the immunization system as if he had taken two doses, in August and October. past.

After the raid on his home, the 68-year-old ex-right-wing ex-president (2019-2022) denied the accusations and accused the authorities of trying to “manufacture a case” against him.

“I didn’t get vaccinated, period, I never denied that,” he told reporters.

Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former deputy and considered his right-hand man during the presidency, was arrested for the case, on suspicion of “initiating” the practice of illegal acts, which also reportedly had the collaboration of subordinates, a doctor, a lawyer and other military.

Until May 11, the United States required proof of vaccination against the coronavirus for international air travelers, but this requirement did not apply to foreign government officials.

“In my trips to the United States, the vaccination certificate was never required,” Bolsonaro explained.

It is unknown how the US authorities handled the stay of the Brazilian leader, after the end of his term, on January 1.

A US State Department spokesperson recently told reporters that individual visa records are confidential.

© 2023 AFP