Covid vaccination forgery case: Ex-Brazil prez Bolsonaro questioned by cops, denies tampering records

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was questioned by the police on Tuesday (May 16) as part of the investigation into alleged forgery of Covidvaccination certificates for himself and his inner circle. Bolsonaro denied the accusations of tampering with his vaccination records and also denied knowledge of or ordering false information to be inserted into the records.

Taking to Twitter, Bolsonaro's adviserFabio Wajngarten said that the former president answered all questions and "reiterated that he had never been vaccinated, that he was unaware of any and all initiatives for eventual forgery, insertion, or adulteration in his vaccination card as well as that of his daughter," the news agency AFP reported.

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The Supreme Court documents have shown that the federal police found evidence of tampering with Bolsonaro's vaccine records in his final weeks as president in December last year before he flew to the United States.

On May 3, the police raided Bolsonaro's home, seized his mobile phone, and arrested his trusted aides. This raid was part of a probe seeking to answer how the former president, a strident coronavirus sceptic who vowed never to get a vaccine against Covid, was registered as vaccinated in health records made public in February.Bolsonaro reiterated he was never vaccinated against Covid, and denied any role in allegedly forging documents.

The Supreme Court is overseeing the case and released court documents which included an arrest for Colonel Mauro Cid, one of Bolsonaro's personal assistants when he was president, who stayed on as his aide.

According to the police, they uncovered a scheme where Colonel Cid allegedly tapped a network of contacts in the health system and government to obtain fraudulent vaccination certificates for Bolsonaro, the president's daughter, himself, his wife and daughters, and two other presidential aides.

The police added there was evidence Bolsonaro was "fully aware" of the fraudulent entries in the health ministry's electronic vaccination records system, which they said aimed to enable his anti-vaccine inner circle to dodge international travel requirements and other Covid restrictions.

(With inputs from agencies)

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