Bolsonaro is investigated for “importunity” of a humpback whale

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) initiated an administrative proceeding to accompany a Federal Police investigation investigating whether former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) “harassed” a humpback whale during a jet ski ride off the coast of São Sebastião, in São Paulo, in June this year. The information was published in the official MPF diary this Friday (17).

According to the document, signed by the Public Prosecutor, Marília Soares Ferreira, Bolsonaro is suspected of a “possible crime of intentional harassment of cetacean species”, provided for in a 1987 law that prohibits the fishing of animals such as whales and dolphins in Brazilian jurisdictional waters. The MPF also highlights that the fact was confirmed based on videos posted on social media, which show a person driving a jet ski approximately 15 meters from the humpback whale. Bolsonaro would be the driver of the watercraft.

In August, Wagner Teixeira (Avante), councilor of São Sebastião, was fined R$2,500 by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) for the same reason: “intentionally molesting a whale”.

On social media, allies of the former president mocked and criticized the investigation. “I wanted it to be a joke or a prank… but no… it’s true… they’re going to investigate. The Traffic Lady, that leaves it alone… it was a mistake… but molesting the whale, this Bolsonaro went too far. That’s the level of acephaly of leaders of our institutions. And the worst thing: these guys are ‘authorities’. They have power in the pen”, tweeted Santa Catarina senator Jorge Seif (PL).