Supreme Court reopens investigation into Bolsonaro’s pandemic crimes

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes ruled to overturn a federal court decision that closed part of an investigation into alleged pandemic crimes committed by members of the former Jair Bolsonaro administration.

Justice Mendes sent the case, which remains sealed, to the Federal Prosecution Office, which will have to analyze whether Mr. Bolsonaro, former Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello (now a congressman), three other former government officials, and the head of the Federal Medicine Council committed a litany of crimes such as helping to spread an epidemic, irregular use of public funds, and malfeasance.

The investigation was prompted by the Senate’s 2021 Covid hearings, which examined the government’s response to the pandemic. In its final report, the committee called for Mr. Bolsonaro to be charged with nine crimes, including crimes against humanity. 

While the government dismissed the investigation as a political hit job on the then-president, the senators collected reams of documents detailing Mr. Bolsonaro’s denialist pandemic playbook.

He stalled the purchase of vaccines from Pfizer, shunned Sinovac shots from China, and procured only half of the vaccines available to Brazil through the UN-backed COVAX facility. His administration knew from the earliest days of the pandemic that lockdowns were the safest response to the rapid rise in Covid cases — even economically — yet the administration rejected social distancing measures at every opportunity. 

Mr. Bolsonaro also pushed for the use of chloroquine on infected patients or as a prophylactic — despite its ineffectiveness in treating the virus.

Brazil has recorded a total of more than 700,000 Covid deaths. Researchers believe that more than 100,000 lives could have been saved if Brazil had followed the scientific consensus during the pandemic.

But between the release of the inquiry’s final report and the end of last year, when Mr. Bolsonaro’s term expired, Prosecutor General Augusto Aras showed little interest in pursuing the senators’ accusations. With his own term coming to an end in September, this could be Mr. Aras’s opportunity to audition for another two years as head prosecutor.

In March of this year, Mr. Aras changed his position on changes to the law governing state-run companies to facilitate political nominations, siding with the new government. 

On Monday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Senate whip praised Mr. Aras for “providing an important service for the country” in “reducing the excesses” of prosecutors in previous years, in a reference to the anti-corruption task force Operation Car Wash.

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