Brasilia: Brazil’s Prosecutor General, Paulo Gonet, has decided not to charge former President Jair Bolsonaro with fraud related to his COVID-19 vaccination records, according to a document released on Thursday. Gonet has requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the case, citing a lack of sufficient evidence beyond the testimony provided in a plea-bargain deal by a former presidential aide.
Gonet argued that accusations against Bolsonaro relied primarily on the statements of the ex-aide, Mauro Cid, without additional corroborative evidence to substantiate the fraud allegations. A legal representative for Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The former president has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
The decision comes just a day after a Supreme Court panel ruled to put Bolsonaro on trial in a separate case, where he faces accusations of conspiring to overturn the government following his defeat in the 2022 presidential election.
Last year, Brazil’s Federal Police formally accused Bolsonaro of falsifying vaccination records. Authorities alleged that Mauro Cid fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccination certificates for Bolsonaro and his daughter, Laura, at the former president’s request. Investigators claimed the fraudulent certificates were issued “to obtain undue advantages related to the evasion of sanitary rules established during the pandemic period.”
Despite these accusations, Gonet maintained in Thursday’s decision that there was insufficient independent evidence to move forward with charges against Bolsonaro in the vaccine records case. However, he emphasized that Cid’s plea-bargain testimony played a more significant role in the separate coup attempt charges against Bolsonaro, where additional supporting evidence led to formal charges being filed in February.
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Gonet is still evaluating another ongoing police investigation involving Bolsonaro, in which the former leader is accused of embezzling luxury jewelry gifted by the Saudi government.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro remains barred from running for public office until 2030, following a ruling by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, which determined he had engaged in efforts to undermine the country’s electoral system.
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