As Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s term wound down in the final days of December 2022, he had decided to skip the ritual of handing over the presidential sash to his successor, and instead made plans to travel abroad.
FILE - Thousands of people gather to show their support for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Sao Paulo., Brazil, Feb. 25, 2024. Bolsonaro retains staunch allegiance among his political base who gathered on Sao Paulos main boulevard to decry what they and the former president characterize as political persecution.
It is Bolsonaro's first indictment since leaving office, and tampering with public records in Brazil is no trifling matter; should the prosecutor-general’s office decide to use the indictment to file charges at the Supreme Court, the 68-year-old politician could spend up to 12 years behind bars or as little as two years, according to legal analyst Zilan Costa. A separate indictment for criminal association carries a maximum jail time of four years, he said.
His administration ignored several offers from pharmaceutical company Pfizer to sell Brazil tens of millions of shots in 2020, and he openly criticized a move by Sao Paulo state’s governor to buy vaccines from Chinese company Sinovac when no other doses at hand. Shor, the police detective, wrote in his indictment he is awaiting information from the U.S. Justice Department to “clarify whether those under investigation did make use of the false vaccination certificates upon their arrival and stay in American territory.” If so, further charges could be leveled against Bolsonaro, Shor wrote without specifying in which country.
The indictment will not turn off his backers and will only confirm his detractors’ suspicions, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo.
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