Police file charges against Bolsonaro in fake vaccine case

Brazil’s Federal Police on Monday filed criminal charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro and others for defrauding public records to produce fake Covid vaccination certificates.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday forwarded the charges to the Federal Prosecution Office, which will decide whether or not to pursue the indictment of the former president. If convicted of all the crimes attributed to him in this case, Mr. Bolsonaro could face up to 15 years in prison.

According to Brazilian law enforcement authorities, false vaccination certificates were issued for Mr. Bolsonaro, his 13-year-old daughter Laura, and other top administration officials. 

While in office, Mr. Bolsonaro was never transparent about his vaccination status and in 2021 sealed his immunization records for 100 years. He was arguably the most prominent vaccine denier in the country, often promoting ineffective treatments for Covid, such as the antimalarial drug chloroquine. 

During the pandemic, Mr. Bolsonaro repeatedly spread disinformation about vaccines. He said they were “experimental” even after being approved by health agencies such as Anvisa, Brazil’s federal health regulator, and falsely linked them to the development of AIDS.

Mr. Bolsonaro left Brazil for Florida on December 30, 2022, to avoid handing over the presidential sash to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was inaugurated two days later. 

At the time he left for Florida, the U.S. required non-citizens to...