A Senate report to be presented Wednesday will recommend that President Jair Bolsonaro be criminalized for allegedly complicating Brazil’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and putting the country’s death toll second in the world. The charges will be framed, which will be according to the members of the committee. Vote on that.
The report, based on six months of work by the committee, calls for indicting Bolsonaro on nine charges, which range from inciting a crime all the way up to a crime against humanity, according to two members of the committee investigating it. Government’s handling of the pandemic. They agreed to discuss the details of the report before a formal, public presentation, if not cited by name.
The report could still be revised before the committee’s vote on 26 October, and the decision to file most of the charges would rest with Brazil’s prosecutor-general, who was appointed by the president. Analysts say it is not clear whether he will act.
Recommended charges also include misappropriation of public funds and prejudice, including delaying or avoiding necessary action as part of a public official’s duty for reasons of personal interest. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing, and has repeatedly accused the investigation of being a political instrument aimed at sabotaging him.
Critics condemned Bolsonaro for downplaying the severity of COVID-19, ignoring international health guidelines on masks and banning activity designed to stop the spread of the virus, touting unproven treatments and delaying the acquisition of vaccines. is of.
Anger over the president’s response prompted the creation in April of a Senate committee that has investigated allegations that Bolsonaro’s management of the pandemic caused more than 600,000 deaths from the disease in Brazil.
Sen. Rennan Calheros, who drafted the report, was to present his final version before the 11-member committee on Wednesday. The earlier draft contained about 1,200 pages. The document has to be approved by the committee before it is sent to the prosecutor-general’s office, which will decide whether to proceed with the investigation and ultimately pursue charges. In Brazil, members of the Congressional Committee can investigate, but they do not have the power to impeach.
Regardless of whether the prosecutor-general acts, the report’s allegations are expected to draw criticism from the far-right leader, whose approval ratings have plummeted ahead of his 2022 election campaign.
Thiago de Arago, director of strategy at political consultant Arco Advice, said the major impact of the investigation is political, as it has generated a lot of news that will certainly be used by campaign strategists next year.
“Even during the worst of the pandemic, Bolsonaro continued to impose restrictions on activity, claiming that the poor would suffer even more if the economy came to a halt. They argue that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine is effective in treating COVID-19, although extensive, major studies have found it to be ineffective and potentially dangerous.
“During the six-month investigation, senators obtained thousands of documents and heard the testimony of more than 60 people. This committee collected evidence that demonstrated abundantly that the federal government was silent and acted in a non-technical and reckless manner. ,” according to an earlier draft of the report, which was reviewed by the Associated Press on Tuesday.
The draft recommended that the president be convicted of murder and genocide as well, although they were both dropped due to protests from committee members and concerns that the bombing claims could undermine the credibility of the report.
The draft concluded that the government deliberately exposed the population at large to a tangible risk of infection, influenced by a group of informal advisers who advocated by many experts to pursue herd immunity over a long period of time, making it a viable was not an option.
In addition to Bolsonaro, the final report will recommend charges against dozens of aides, current and former members of his administration and his three eldest sons, all of whom are politicians, according to two senators who spoke with the AP.
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