Brazil: Federal Police Force Wants President Jair Bolsonaro Charged With Spreading Fake COVID-19 Information

The Brazilian police force is calling for President Jair Bolsonaro's prosecution for allegedly spreading fake information about the COVID-19 virus and outbreak in the country.

Apart from this, Bolsonaro has also made numerous attempts to link the deadly virus with AIDS and COVID-19 vaccines.

Brazilian Police Writes to Supreme Court for President Bolsonaro Prosecution

According to The Guardian, a senior federal police investigator was reported to have written a report to the Federal Supreme Court to have President Jair Bolsonaro questioned and charged with possible crimes for allegedly spreading fake COVID-19 information.

In the letter, the police investigator wants the Brazilian president to be charged with the crime of incitement when someone encourages another person to commit an offense.

The police allege Bolsonaro for falsely claiming that face masks were responsible for the tragic deaths during the influenza pandemic that took place in 1918. He made the infamous allegations in a live video that was broadcasted on YouTube and Facebook.

The video was since deleted on the platforms shortly after being posted last October 2021.

"[The president] in a direct, spontaneous, and conscious manner disseminated the disinformation that victims of the Spanish flu had, in fact, died as a result of bacterial pneumonia caused by the use of masks, instilling in viewers' minds a veritable disincentive to their use in the fight against Covid at a time when the use of masks was compulsory," the letter stated.

Apart from the false face mask claims, Bolsonaro also claimed that taking the COVID-19 vaccine would lead to developing acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) and other agencies in the country have debunked the president's claim repeatedly.

In the letter addressed to the Supreme Court, the police force made it apparent that Bolsonaro's live pronouncements have led its viewers to fail to comply with the sanitary guidelines and standards that the government itself mandated.

Pres. Jair Balsonaro To Face 6 Months of Prison Time Should He Be Proven Guilty of Incitement

G1 Globo initially reported the Brazilian police force's attempt to charge President Jair Bolsonaro with incitement for allegedly spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 virus.

Federal Police Investigator Lorena Lima Nascimento, the person behind the letter, also wrote that Bolsonaro's untruthful claims could generate "public alarm over a non-existent danger," which constitutes a misdemeanor.

"[The president] spread, freely, voluntarily and consciously, information that did not correspond to the original text of his source, potentially causing alarm of non-existent danger to viewers," Nascimento wrote.

Under the Brazilian Criminal Code, incitement to crime can lead to six months in prison. But apart from Bolsonaro, Assistant Lieutenant Mauro Cid shall also be held responsible, as he had helped the president in producing the material broadcasted on the notorious live transmission.

The letter also pushes for the Supreme Court to authorize Bolsonaro to take the testimony stand.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ivan Korrs

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