Ex-president of Brazil suspected of falsifying vaccines against COVID

Brazil's police have suspected that former President Jair Bolsonaro forged a CORONAVIRUS vaccination certificate to bypass US travel restrictions .

In total, there are 16 people among the suspects in this case (together with Bolsonaro). Six of them, namely the former assistant to the HEAD of state Mauro Cida, two Bolsonaro security officials, the secretary of the government of the municipality of Duca de Caxias and two other military officers were arrested, without a warrant for the arrest of the ex-president himself was issued.

According to the investigation, in December 2022, a group of people associated with Bolsonaro entered false data on vaccination against covid-19 into the system of the Brazilian Ministry of HEALTH in order to obtain certificates. In total, the vaccination data of seven people were falsified - Bolsonaro, his 12-year-old daughter, his former assistant Mauro Cid, his wife and three daughters of this assistant.

Police raided the suspects' homes in the capital, Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. A search was also carried out in Bolsonaro's house, and his mobile phone was also confiscated.

Bolsonaro himself, commenting on the allegations, said that he and his daughter had not been vaccinated against coronavirus, and denied the fact of forgery. “I have never been asked for a vaccination certificate anywhere, there is no intervention on my part. I didn’t get vaccinated, period,” said the ex-president.

Jair Bolsonaro was President of Brazil from 2019 to 2022. Last autumn, the country held presidential elections, which were won by Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. The gap between the candidates was minimal - 50.9% against 49.1% in favor of da Silva. In early January 2023, protests were held in Brazil with the participation of Bolsonaro's supporters, who demanded a revision of the election results.

After the protests, Bolsonaro was hospitalized in the United States due to abdominal pain. At the end of March, he returned to Brazil.