Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Faces Fine for Breaking Country's COVID-19 Mandates
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was fined after not adhering to the COVID-19 health mandates of the Maranhão state. The case was filed by health authorities of the state on Friday for a gathering in Maranhão with "no sanitary safeguards," Al Jazeera reported.
The said case against the Jair Bolsonaro was publicized by Maranhão Governor Flávio Dino on his Twitter account on Friday, the same day the president was in the state to attend an event.
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Jair Bolsonaro Faces Fine After Breaking COVID Health Mandates
The case filed by the health authorities stemmed out when Bolsonaro was in Maranhão State as he handed out rural property titles in Acailandia. France 24 noted that the area where the event was held is located 500 kilometers from Sao Luis, the capital of Maranhão.
France 24 noted that Bolsonaro was not wearing his mask as the president allegedly blasted the Maranhão State Governor Dino as a "chubby dictator."
O presidente da República deve observância à legislação federal e estadual. Está em vigor uma norma proibindo eventos acima de 100 pessoas e determinando o uso de máscaras. O presidente poderá exercer seu direito de defesa. Valor da multa está previsto em Lei Federal.
— Flávio Dino 🇧🇷 (@FlavioDino) May 21, 2021
Governor Dino noted in his statement that Notice of Infarction was filed against the Brazilian president for "the promotion in Maranhão of agglomerations without any healthcare," emphasizing that the health team of Brazil is working hard in the challenging phase of a pandemic. Dino highlighted that the law is for everyone.
Estamos vivendo uma fase especialmente desafiadora da pandemia. A equipe da saúde tem trabalhado muito. E hoje resolveu lavrar Auto de Infração contra o presidente da República, pela promoção no Maranhão de aglomerações sem nenhum cuidado sanitário. A lei é para todos.
— Flávio Dino 🇧🇷 (@FlavioDino) May 21, 2021
Governor Dino also highlighted in his statement that the state of Maranhão is under the rule that prohibits a gathering with over 100 people and mandates the use of face masks. Details regarding the number of people who attended the event where President Jair Bolsonaro was present were not furthered out.
"The President may exercise his right of defense," said Dino. France 24 noted that Bolsonaro's office has at least 15 days to appeal, after which the amount of the fine will be set in the federal court.
Senator Accuses Bolsonaro of Preferring Herd Immunity than COVID-19 Vaccines
Apart from the fines Jair Bolsonaro faced, a senator also accused the president of preferring herd immunity more than COVID-19 vaccines. The accusation was also made on Friday by a senator who leads the upper House's inquiry about how Brazil's government handles the COVID-19 crisis, Reuters reported.
In an interview, Senator Renan Calheiros emphasized that the president denied the disease and labeled coronavirus as flu, refused lockdowns, and promoted crowds to gather for herd immunity.
"Why is that? Because of herd immunity, the natural immunity... you have to encourage crowds and spread the virus," said Calheiros. Calheiros also noted that herd immunity is the reason behind the president's refusal for the COVID-19 vaccine and his slow in spending the budget awarded by Congress to avail coronavirus vaccines from overseas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recorded at least 82,039 cases of COVID-19 in Brazil and 2,403 new deaths because of the disease in the last 24 hours.
Reuter noted that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has drawn criticisms from detractors in Brazil regarding his way of minimizing the dangers of COVID-19, refusal of face masks, and backing unproven remedies against the disease.
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WATCH: Brazil's President Bolsonaro takes off mask while announcing he has COVID-19 - from Sky News
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