Brazilian authorities seized the passport of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday, May 4th, as part of an investigation into his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brazilian news agency Nova News reported.
The order was given by a judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes, Bolsonaro’s arch-enemy in Brazilian politics. The investigation is specifically into the falsification of vaccination certificates. On the same day, the federal police searched Bolsonaro’s home, seized his cell phone, and arrested six of his former colleagues.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro refused to testify before the police on the grounds that he and his legal team have not been given full access to the investigation documents.
Investigators allege that the former president forged vaccine documents in December 2022 in order to travel to the U.S. Bolsonaro spent three months in Florida after he lost the presidential elections in Brazil in November 2022. He returned to Brazil in March and is facing a series of charges surrounding the COVID pandemic and the post-election protests in his country. Investigators allege that records in the Ministry of Health show Bolsonaro took two doses of the vaccine: the first on August 13th and the second on October 14th, at a municipal center in the city of Duque di Caxias, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
According to investigators, Bolsonaro’s vaccination record was entered into the Information System of the National Immunization Program only on December 21, by the councillor for health of the municipality of Duque de Caxias, Joao Carlos de Sousa Brecha. A week later, it was deleted from the system as a “mistake.” Bolsonaro and his family flew to Miami, Florida on December 30, 2022, the day before his presidential term expired.
Bolsonaro faced international criticism for his no-restriction handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He denied all the allegations against him.
“I have never been asked for the vaccination certificate. There was no tampering on my part. I didn’t get vaccinated, I’ve never denied this. It was my personal decision. Even my 12-year-old daughter Laura didn’t. My wife has had the Janssen vaccine in the United States,” Bolsonaro said in statements to the press, near his home, after the search was completed.
