As of: 10/20/2021 5:32 p.m.
Brazil has the second highest number of corona deaths globally. A Senate committee has investigated Head of State Bolsonaro’s pandemic policy and recommends that he be charged – including crimes against humanity.
The Brazilian Senate recommends taking legal action against President Jair Bolsonaro because of his Corona policy. An investigation report that has now been submitted into the misconduct of the president and his government in corona crisis management lists at least ten possible charges, including crimes against humanity. In the report, Bolsonaro is accused, among other things, of having “deliberately exposed the population to the specific risk of mass infection”.
Prosecutor General’s backing
The report is unlikely to have any legal consequences for Bolsonaro, as it has the backing of Attorney General Augusto Aras. The Bolsonaro ally could protect him from any charge. The initiation of impeachment proceedings against the radical right-wing head of state is also not in sight, as he has sufficient support in Congress to avert such proceedings.
Nonetheless, the report could politically damage the president, who will run for re-election next year. Bolsonaro is currently under strong pressure due to poor popularity ratings and several preliminary investigations against him and his environment. According to surveys, he is threatened with a clear defeat against the left-wing ex-head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the election next year.
Several of Bolsonaro’s sons are also to be charged
According to media reports, around 60 people will be charged according to the will of the committee, including five ministers or ex-ministers and three sons of Bolsonaro. The committee had deliberated for six months and the report was 1200 pages long.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the dangers of the coronavirus and criticized corona requirements of the Brazilian regional and local authorities because of their economic effects. He himself denies any wrongdoing and has repeatedly referred to the investigation as a political instrument to sabotage him.
Several ministers and high-ranking government employees as well as hospital managers and relatives of corona victims were heard in the committee. Among other things, the senators dealt with the lack of oxygen for ventilation of corona patients in the state of Amazonas. Dozens of patients died in January in Manaus, the state’s capital, due to the inadequate supply of oxygen.
More than 600,000 corona deaths
The committee also looked into delays in procuring corona vaccines. Another topic was Bolsonaro’s speeches in which he had sharply criticized lockdown measures. In total, more than 600,000 corona deaths have been recorded in Brazil since the beginning of the pandemic. The South American country ranks second in the world behind the USA, which, however, has more inhabitants.