Brazilian prosecutor’s office asked to investigate Jair Bolsonaro for procrastinating in purchasing COVID-19 vaccines

The Brazilian prosecution asked the Supreme Court this Friday Opening of an investigation against President Jair Bolsonaro to clarify whether he committed a crime of procrastinating in the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines.

The prosecutor’s office ruled after a group of Brazilian senators on Monday asked the Supreme Court to open an investigation into the alleged crimes that the president could commit in the negotiation for the purchase of vaccines against Indians COVID-19.

After the request presented by the senators, the magistrate of the highest jurisdiction Rosa weber applied for a position in the Brazilian prosecutor’s office, which he was now in favor of opening an investigation against the head of state.

The objective of the investigation is to determine whether any suspected irregularities have been committed in the contract of intent to purchase signed between the government and the Indian company Bharat Biotech for the acquisition of 20 million doses of the Covaxin vaccine.

Some of these alleged irregularities were exposed last week by the MP Luis Miranda to a senatorial commission which is investigating the erratic management of the Bolsonaro government in the face of a pandemic which has already killed nearly 520,000 Brazilians.

According to documents presented by MP Miranda, from the base that supports Bolsonaro, and his brother Ricardo Miranda, responsible for imports at the Ministry of Health, during negotiations with Bharat Biotech, it was agreed that part of the payment for the vaccines would be deposited with a company that was not included in the contract.

It was the Singapore-based Madison cabinet that the parliamentary committee ruled “”very suspicious“With other clauses of the contract, which had as” intermediary “a Brazilian businessman who has already committed fraud in the field of health.

This businessman has been identified as Francisco Maximiano, owner of another company investigated for corruption for having “sold” to the Ministry of Health medical supplies that he never delivered.

Deputy Miranda revealed that in March he informed Bolsonaro of his suspicions and that The president told him it was “a roll” from lawmaker Ricardo Barros, leader of the group in power in the Lower House and who was Minister of Health between 2016 and 2018, under the administration of former President Michel Temer.

In the request to open an investigation, the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic, Humberto Jacques de Medeiros, asserts that it is necessary to clarify the circumstances of the alleged notification that was given to Bolsonaro regarding the aforementioned irregularities to verify whether the crime of prevarication has been configured.

(With information from EFE)

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