Brazil’s Covid hearings committee wants another swing at Bolsonaro

In October 2021, a Senate hearings committee laid out an ambitious roadmap for the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro and several members of his former cabinet, allies in Congress, and supporters, saying they committed multiple crimes during the coronavirus crisis. 

In the final report issued after a very public six-month investigation, senators recommended Mr. Bolsonaro be personally prosecuted on nine counts — including charlatanism and crimes against humanity.

“The president repeatedly encouraged people to disregard social distancing policies, opposed himself to the use of masks, promoted gatherings, and slandered vaccines,” wrote rapporteur Senator Renan Calheiros, adding that an estimated 120,000 lives would have been spared if the federal government had acted in a more responsible manner.

But in the 14 months bookended by the report’s publication and the end of Mr. Bolsonaro’s term in office, little was done to hold the far-right former leader accountable for his role in what was considered one of the world’s worst Covid responses.

Friendly to the previous government, the Federal Prosecution Office asked for eight cases against Mr. Bolsonaro to be shelved. The requests still await a response from the Supreme Court. 

But with Mr. Bolsonaro out of office, senators who scrutinized his administration’s Covid strategy (proving that a denialist playbook was taken as gospel) believe that...