Bolsonaro says he did not ask for insertion of vaccine data – 05/16/2023 – Politics

Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said in a statement this Tuesday (16) to the Federal Police that he did not determine the insertion of false data in his vaccination card and that of his daughter.

He also said that he only became aware of the facts on the day of the search and seizure operation at his residence, on the 3rd.

According to interlocutors, there were 60 questions asked by the police to the former head of the Executive in the testimony of more than three hours to the PF, in Brasília, in the scope of the investigation into fraud in vaccination cards in the Ministry of Health system.

This is the third time Bolsonaro has testified to police authorities this year. The first hearing was on April 5, regarding the case of jewelry received from Saudi Arabian authorities, and the second on April 26, regarding the coup attacks on January 8.

In early May, as part of the investigation into vaccine cards, the PF carried out a search and seizure operation at Bolsonaro’s house and arrested three of his main assistants: Mauro Cid, Max Guilherme and Sergio Cordeiro.

The former aide-de-camp Cid, despite not being officially part of the team of advisers to which Bolsonaro is entitled as a former president, is considered his right-hand man due to his loyalty and closeness.

Last week, lawyer Rodrigo Roca left Cid’s defense and was replaced by Bernardo Fenelon, who has works on plea bargaining.

Even so, Bolsonaro allies say they are confident that Cid will not collaborate. The expectation is that he admits guilt in the scheme of inserting fraudulent data on vaccination.

According to the Federal Police, the targets of the investigation are suspected of inserting false information into the Health system between November 2021 and December 2022. The objective was for beneficiaries to be able to issue a vaccination certificate to travel to the United States.

On Monday (15), two Bolsonaro lawyers, Daniel Tesser and Paulo Cunha Bueno, landed in Brasília, accompanied by the former head of Secom (Special Secretariat for Social Communication) Fábio Wajngarten. They acted in preparing Bolsonaro for the statement.