Brazil: Senate Committee Recommends to Criminally Charge Pres. Jair Bolsonaro Over COVID Response
President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro gestures during a last minute press conference at the Ministry of Economy on October 22, 2021 in Brasilia, Brazil. Four key members of Guede's team had resigned on Thursday in disagreement with Bolsonaro's intention to increase public spending cap to fund welfare plans a year before presidential elections. In the last week, markets and Brazilian currency sank on fears spending cap may be jeopardized.  Andressa Anholete/Getty Images

A Senate committee in Brazil on Tuesday voted to recommend to charge President Jair Bolsonaro over his response to COVID-19.

Seven of the Senate panel's 11 members called for nine charges to be filed against the Brazilian president. Included in the possible charges against Bolsonaro are crimes against humanity, BBC News reported.

Senate committee chair Senator Omar Aziz will send the findings to the Brazilian prosecutor-general on Wednesday. However, Bolsonaro reiterated that he's "guilty of absolutely nothing."

Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras will be deciding whether to file most of the charges against the president of Brazil. According to a CNBC report, Aras is known to be a Bolsonaro appointee who is widely perceived as someone protecting the Brazilian president. The office of Aras said the report would be reviewed as soon as it's received.

On the other hand, the International Criminal Court would need to pursue the allegation of crimes against humanity. More than 600,000 people in Brazil have reportedly died from COVID, second only to the death toll in the U.S.

Report Against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro

A draft report released last week has called for Jair Bolsonaro to be indicted for genocide and murder. However, the senators later decided to drop those charges due to what they described as technical reasons, Al Jazeera reported.

The Senate also decided to add 10 people to the list of individuals who should be charged along with Bolsonaro. Some current or former Health Ministry employees and Wilson Lima, the governor of interior Amazonas state, were included in the list.

Lima's government is currently under federal probe for reported corruption on the purchase of medical equipment. Amazonas state experienced a shortage of oxygen supplies, resulting in deaths by asphyxia earlier this year.

Senator Renan Calheiros noted that the president was on the side of dictators, such as Adolf Hitler and Augusto Pinochet. Calheiros said the chaos of Bolsonaro's government would enter history as the lowest level of "human destitution."

CNBC reported that Jair Bolsonaro has defended himself by saying he was among the few world leaders who were courageous enough to defy political correctness and global health recommendations.

The final report also added an additional violation for allegedly spreading false news after Bolsonaro's live broadcast on social media last week.

The Brazilian president incorrectly claimed that people in the U.K., who received two vaccine doses, are developing AIDS faster than expected.

Facebook and YouTube Taking Down Bolsonaro's Video

Social media platform Facebook and online video-sharing YouTube have removed a video by Jair Bolsonaro, wherein he made false claims about COVID vaccines and linked it to developing AIDS.

Both Facebook and YouTube said the video violated their policies, Reuters reported. A Facebook spokesperson said that their policies do not allow claims that COVID vaccines kill or seriously harm people.

YouTube said in a statement that they removed a video from the Brazilian president's channel for violating their medical disinformation policy.

COVID vaccines approved by health regulators are safe for most people, including those living with HIV, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS. This was not the first time that videos were removed from the Brazilian president's official YouTube channel.

Last July, the platform also removed videos from Bolsonaro's channel recommending the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin against COVID.

Since the start of the pandemic, Bolsonaro has sowed doubt about the vaccines and assembled crowds without wearing face masks. He also sabotaged local leaders' restrictions on activity aimed at stopping the spread of COVID.

He has also touted an anti-malaria drug long after comprehensive testing showed it isn't effective against COVID.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Brazil's Bolsonaro Should Face Charges for COVID Pandemic: Senate Inquiry - From Al Jazeera English