“Brazil’s Former President Bolsonaro Faces Federal Police Questioning Over Alleged COVID-19 Vaccine Card Falsification”

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro faced questioning Tuesday by Federal Police as part of an investigation into allegations he falsified COVID-19 vaccination cards to comply with state vaccination requirements. Joined.

Police have not publicly named the people their investigation is targeting, but local media reports have said authorities are reviewing the vaccination cards of Bolsonaro, his advisers and family members and whether they were modified prior to your trip to the United States.

Bolsonaro, who arrived at the police headquarters in Brasilia on Tuesday afternoon to give a sworn deposition, has denied having committed any improper action, pointing out that he never claimed to be vaccinated or presented documents indicating that he was.

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 “support the discourse aimed at attacking the vaccine against COVID-19”, but did not provide further details.

Bolsonaro’s sworn deposition on Tuesday is a step forward in one of several investigations into the far-right former president.

A few weeks ago, the Brazilian police raided Bolsonaro’s residence and seized his phone. Authorities searched several more sites and issued 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 his vaccination records were not required 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 at least three times after the US nation began requiring in November 2021 that non-citizens be fully vaccinated in order to enter.

Other legal headaches for Bolsonaro include an investigation into his role in the uprising in the capital Brasilia a week after the inauguration of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Thousands of staunch Bolsonaro supporters stormed the Federal Supreme Court, Congress and the presidential palace, seeking Lula’s removal. Hundreds of them will be judged.