The Brazilian police searched this Wednesday the home of former President Jair Bolsonaro in Brasilia and seized his mobile phone, as part of an investigation into falsification of covid vaccination certificates. The operation was extended to the closest circle of the ex-president, since the agents searched a total of 16 residences of the same number of investigated in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro and arrested six people.
Investigators suspect that Bolsonaro and his collaborators manipulated their covid vaccination records last December so as not to have problems entering the US. The certificate of the 12-year-old daughter of the far-right leader, Laura, would also have been falsified.
The former president left Brazil on December 30 for the state of Florida, hours before the inauguration of his successor, the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which he did not attend.
"These people were able to issue the respective vaccination certificates and use them to circumvent the current sanitary restrictions imposed by the public authorities (of Brazil and the US) aimed at preventing the spread of contagious diseases, in this case, the covid pandemic" , indicates a statement released by the Federal Police.
Bolsonaro reacted with outrage and surprise to the search, an operation ordered by the Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes. "What can I say? I did not get vaccinated. It was my personal decision, ”said the former president at the gates of his residence in Brasilia. “They also photographed my wife's vaccination card, she was vaccinated in the United States, with Janssen. My 12-year-old daughter Laura was not vaccinated either, she has a medical report, ”he added. “They never asked me for my vaccination certificate anywhere and there was no adulteration on my part. I didn't take the vaccine and that's it,” Bolsonaro said.
According to the investigation, the vaccination data of Bolsonaro, his daughter and his collaborators were entered into the Information System of the National Immunization Program on December 21 by João Carlos de Sousa Brecha, municipal secretary of Duque de Caxias, a town in the state of Rio de Janeiro, who is one of the six arrested. Barely a week later, on December 27, they were deleted from the system by an official, who claimed an "error". In that week it was possible to generate the corresponding vaccination certificates that would be used to fly to the US a few days later.
Among the crimes that the police are considering charging Bolsonaro and his entourage is "corruption of minors", for falsifying the certificate of the former president's daughter, in addition to criminal organization, violation of sanitary measures and entering false data into databases. public data.
In addition to the Duque de Caxias municipal official, five soldiers and police officers who acted as advisers or members of Bolsonaro's security team were also arrested this Wednesday.
