Criminalists point out problems in the new investigation against Bolsonaro

The new investigation against former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), involving falsification of vaccine cards against Covid-19, is the subject of criticism among criminalists and deputies, who point out several flaws, such as the lack of evidence of direct participation of the former -president in the scheme and the fact that the case was included in the investigation of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on the “digital militias”.

The investigation arose from an internal investigation by the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGU), the federal government’s inspection arm, earlier this year, when the body was considering releasing Bolsonaro’s vaccination card, to fulfill a promise by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Silva (PT) to break the secrecy of the predecessor’s personal data, fixed in the past management.

Upon finding suspicious insertions of data in the national system that records the application of doses, the CGU forwarded the case to the Federal Police, attaching additional information collected from the Ministry of Health. Within the PF, the case ended up in the hands of delegate Fábio Shor, because the name of Bolsonaro’s former assistant Mauro Cid appeared, who was already investigated by him in the context of the digital militias inquiry, conducted by Alexandre de Moraes in the STF.

The PF discovered that Cid mobilized colleagues and public servants to issue a false vaccination card so that his wife could travel abroad. Afterwards, several other close officials and Bolsonaro assistants benefited from the scheme, until, in December of last year, false vaccination data were entered into the ConectaSUS system, by the same group, to register doses for the former president and his daughter. minors, so that they could issue vaccination certificates within the system application and account on the government portal. Bolsonaro said he was not vaccinated against Covid-19 and denied that he tampered with the data.

Experts consider “weak” argument to include case in Moraes inquiry

The first problem pointed out by analysts consulted is the fact that the case was taken over by Alexandre de Moraes, in the investigation of the digital militias, based on an alleged connection pointed out by the PF, but considered fragile, between the acts of inserting false data in the system of the Ministry of Health and the so-called “hate office”, a group that would be formed by other former Bolsonaro advisers to defend his government and criticize opponents on social networks.

In the inquiry into the digital militias, Mauro Cid was already investigated by Moraes, but for another matter, also not directly related to social networks: financial transactions he carried out to pay bills for the former president’s family. Before, the minister had ordered the secrecy of his communications to be broken for a third reason: the fact that he helped Bolsonaro to publicize a PF inquiry into the hacker invasion of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) in 2018 – the TSE itself asked for the investigation by alleged violation of confidential data, but the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) dismissed the case as it considered that the investigation was not confidential.

As well as the survey of fake news, opened in 2019, that of digital militias is widely criticized in the legal community due to the expansion of its object. Officially, it was aimed at journalist Allan dos Santos, but later it ended up being used to investigate, among many other things, conversations by anti-PT businessmen in a WhatsApp group; questions from former Revenue Secretary Marcos Cintra about the electoral system; and even criticism from Google executives about the “fake news” bill, defended by Moraes.

To cover all of this, Moraes always mentions “attacks” to the Democratic State of Law, and the conjecture of PF delegates dedicated to these investigations that there would be a “criminal organization”, structured in different cores – political, financial, etc. – responsible for spreading false news against institutions. It was never clear who exactly participates in these groups and how they operate, nor what illicit content they spread. A good part of the cases never led to complaints and criminal proceedings against those investigated.

In the case of fraud involving vaccination cards, the PF linked up with the “digital militias” due to the fact that one of Mauro Cid’s interlocutors, the lawyer and former soldier Ailton Barros, who also helped him to insert false data into the system, having sent him messages advocating protests against the STF and military intervention. In addition, the corporation points out statements by helpers who are against the vaccine, which would be linked to the ex-president’s distrust speech about the vaccine against Covid-19 and which would also be reverberated by the so-called “digital militias”.

“The factual inquiry must have a limited object set up in theory to investigate past facts, not future ones. Is experiencing some level of exacerbation. This thing about calling the directors of social networks is quite controversial. What crime did they commit? None. For being against the bill? In the case of Bolsonaro, there could even be a crime, but a new investigation should be launched, and taking into account that he no longer has prerogatives, the forum would be the Federal Court of First Instance in Brasília. From the moment he left the mandate, he lost his prerogative. So, yes, it is dangerous to have this type of investigation, covering any fact, especially future ones”, says lawyer Matheus Falivene, master and doctor in Criminal Law from USP.

Lack of evidence of Bolsonaro’s participation

Another problem in the case, according to analysts consulted by the report, is the lack of evidence of Bolsonaro’s direct participation in entering data and issuing false vaccination cards.

Although his and his daughter’s data have been changed so that vaccination is attested, the PF inquiry has not yet indicated an order or acquiescence from the former president for the act. This is what the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) said in an opinion sent to Moraes in which he opined against the search and seizure carried out on Wednesday at Bolsonaro’s house.

“Differently from the plot drawn up by the Federal Police, what is extracted is that Mauro Cesar Barbosa Cid would have architected and led all the criminal action, in absentia, without the knowledge and without the consent of the former President of the Republic Jair Messias Bolsonaro”, he wrote. deputy prosecutor Lindôra Araujo.

She also considered that the former president and his family had a diplomatic passport and, with it, they would not need to prove vaccination against Covid to enter the United States. The false data were entered into ConectaSUS on December 21, and removed on the 27th, shortly before Bolsonaro and his family left for Florida, at the end of the presidential term.

Another argument pointed out by Lindôra is the fact that Bolsonaro has always said that he has not been vaccinated. An eventual authorization to prove that he had been vaccinated would be “unnecessary”, “absolutely paradoxical” and, if revealed, would bring him “irreparable political damage, precisely in the year in which he would run for a new term as President of the Republic”.

For the criminalist Rafael Paiva, master and professor of Criminal Law, the inquiry was able to demonstrate the materiality of the crime, but not the alleged authorship of Bolsonaro.

“What would justify the insertion of data, for issuing the cards, is something that calls attention. But this is not enough for criminal liability. That is why investigations are important. the prisoners [ex-auxiliares de Bolsonaro] they will be called to testify and may be urged to denounce and perhaps information will come out of it. But they are speculations, ”she says.

Bolsonaro supporters in the Chamber criticize the operation

In the political environment, among Bolsonaro supporters in the Chamber of Deputies, there was indignation with the operation. In a meeting with colleagues on Wednesday (3), the president of the Public Safety Commission, Ubiratan Sanderson (PL-RS), who is a deputy and also a federal police officer, criticized the arrests for the fact that the crimes involve falsifying vaccine cards , a less serious offense, in his opinion. “Here we have police chiefs, prosecutors, federal agents, colonels… Now if a vaccine card gives rise to [motivo] to arrest someone?”, he said, during a speech to members of the commission.

For him, something similar happened to former Minister of Justice Anderson Torres, arrested by Moraes more than three months ago for alleged omission in the attacks on the seats of the Powers on January 8. “With the aim of psychological torture, they looked for something that they did not find. When they put a vaccine card, it’s because there’s nothing else to find, “he said.

Deputy Cabo Gilberto Silva (PL-PB) also sees an excess of Alexandre de Moraes in the investigations. “A totally disastrous action, vitiated, without legal protection, contrary to the law. It is a totally unconstitutional ex officio open inquiry. Without the consent of the Public Prosecutor. The president no longer has privileged jurisdiction, nor do the other investigated parties. I’m not talking about the Supreme Court itself, because it has to exist and I respect it, I defend it. What I am talking about is the performance of some ministers who constantly tear up the Constitution”, said the deputy, who also criticized a “small part” of the PF that accepts to comply with decisions that, according to him, are unconstitutional.