Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been indicted on suspicion of falsifying vaccine records during his time, according to CNN Brasil.
According to the police, Bolsonaro apparently directed a close assistant to enter fraudulent vaccination data into the Ministry of Health’s database, which belonged to him and his daughter.
Along with Bolsonaro, former Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid and 15 others are named in the indictment for allegedly participating in the scheme.
Following the podcast, Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, described Bolsonaro’s opinion on vaccination as “absurd” based on his understanding.
Last year, Brazilian officials opened an inquiry into vaccination record fraud claims at the President’s house in Brasilia. The President denied committing any misconduct.
The Brazilian Prosecutor’s Office will consider whether to prosecute Bolsonaro. Thus, Bolsonaro was heavily attacked both domestically and internationally for his approach to the epidemic, which was also linked to mistrust in vaccination implementation.
His presidency was not without controversy, one of which was not allowing UN assembly members to be vaccinated and being accused of inciting violence following the 2022 election.
