Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday called a “masquerade” the Senate Commission of Inquiry (ICC) into the pandemic, which asked for his indictment for nine crimes, including “crimes against humanity”.
“Anyone with a minimum of discernment knows that it was a masquerade,” he said in an interview with Jovem Pan radio. “The ICC has caused damage. Not for me […], but for the image of Brazil abroad, […] where we believe that we are under a dictatorship, that I had journalists arrested and that I killed people during the pandemic, ”he added.
For the far-right president, the ICC charges could deter foreigners from “investing” or “sightseeing” in Brazil.
Tuesday evening, 7 of the 11 senators who carried out the work of this commission for six months approved a report of 1200 pages which calls for the indictment of the president for, among others, “crime against humanity”, “prevarication”, “charlatanism And “incitement to crime”.
The ICC accused in its report the Bolsonaro government of having “deliberately exposed” the Brazilians to “mass contamination”, in particular because of the head of state’s anti-confinement speech and delays in the purchase of vaccines.
The ICC has caused damage. Not for me […], but for the image of Brazil abroad, […] where we believe we are under a dictatorship.
The commission of inquiry denounces the “deliberate delay” in the acquisition of vaccines, the government having preferred to promote ineffective treatments such as hydroxychloroquine, which would have had “tragic consequences” for the population.
The ICC has also investigated government responsibilities for the oxygen shortage that killed dozens of patients in Manaus and the relationship between Brasília and private health mutuals. One of them, Prevent Senior, is suspected of having carried out experiments with early treatments without the knowledge of her patients and of having pressured her doctors to prescribe these treatments to “human guinea pigs. “.
The text also incriminates 77 other people, including ministers, ex-ministers, business leaders and the three eldest sons of Bolsonaro, all elected officials.
Charging unlikely
The Brazilian president received on Tuesday the support of his former American counterpart Donald Trump, for whom “Brazil is lucky to have a man like Jair Bolsonaro at the head of the country”.
The Brazilian president, who positions himself as an anti-vaccine and anti-sanitary passport and whose popularity rating is at its lowest, said last week “guilty of absolutely nothing”. “We know we did the right thing from the start,” he said.
Since coming to power in 2019, Jair Bolsonaro, most of whose communication takes place on social networks, where he has more than 40 million subscribers, has regularly disseminated erroneous information, including a large number on the coronavirus.
The ICC report was handed over by senators on Wednesday to Attorney General Augusto Aras, the only person able to prosecute the head of state.
But analysts say the Brazilian president is unlikely to be indicted, Aras being one of his closest allies. However, the notion of “crime against humanity” could be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.