Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gave testimony Tuesday at Federal Police headquarters over his alleged involvement in COVID-19 certificates fraud in addition to messages between his former advisor and an ex-army main about launching a coup towards then newly elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
It marked the third time that Bolsonaro testified earlier than the Federal Police.
According to investigators, Bolsonaro and a few shut associates cast COVID-19 certificates for himself, his daughter, his former advisor Lieut. Col. Mauro Cid and his household to get round U.S. vaccination necessities.
The testimony follows “Operation Venire,” the place authorities executed 16 search warrants, together with on Bolsonaro’s residence in Sao Paulo, and arrested outstanding loyalists together with Cid, Max Guilherme, Sergio Cordeiro and Ailton Barros for his or her participation within the counterfeit vaccination scheme.
According to prosecutors, Bolsonaro and his allies inserted false information into Brazil’s well being system between November 2021 and December 2022 to bypass well being restrictions imposed by authorities in the course of the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic and allow them to journey to the U.S.
Fabio Wajngarten, Bolsonaro’s communications secretary and one among his shut allies, shared particulars of the previous president’s testimony on his Twitter account.
Bolsonaro “reiterated that he had never been vaccinated (and) that he was unaware of any and all initiatives for eventual forgery, insertion, adulteration in his vaccination card as well as that of his daughter,” Wajngarten wrote.
However, following Operation Venire, Bolsonaro’s most important assistant, Guilherme, confessed to the police that he had issued his vaccination certificates even with out being immunized towards COVID.
In addition, the Federal Police questioned Bolsonaro about retrieved messages between former Army Major Barros and Cid concerning an tried coup towards Lula.
The messages, which had been from December 2022, additionally element a potential plan to incarcerate Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Bolsonaro “responded that he did not lead, that he did not participate in any act of insurrection or subversion against the rule of law,” Wajngarten tweeted.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
