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An investigation against Bolsonaro after he claimed that corona vaccines cause AIDS
Medical experts flatly rejected the Brazilian president's false claims, and the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into whether they were linked to a group of his supporters, known as the "Ministry of Hate", suspected of creating Pike News and encouraging a military coup.
He is already facing a separate investigation into the plague, which claimed the lives of more than 615,000 people.
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Brazil
Jair Bolsonaro
Corona virus
News agencies
Sunday, 05 December 2021, 10:28
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Falling in the polls ahead of next year's elections.
Bolsonaro, Friday (Photo: Reuters)
Brazil's Supreme Court has opened an investigation following President Jair Bolsonaro's false claims that corona virus vaccines may increase the chances of contracting AIDS.
Bolsonaro's remarks, made during an online live broadcast in October, led to his temporary suspension from Facebook and YouTube as part of their policy to combat fake news.
Bolsonaro often casts doubt on the effectiveness of vaccines, and he is already facing a separate investigation into his treatment of the epidemic.
In October, the Senate voted in favor of Bolsonaro's indictment, including for crimes against humanity, but he claims he is not guilty of anything and that the investigation against him is political.
The death toll from Corona in Brazil is the second highest in the world, after the United States.
More than 615,000 people have died from the virus, and 22.1 million have been infected, although there are fears that the true numbers are much higher.
During the live broadcast on October 24, the far-right president claimed that the reports "suggest that people who are fully vaccinated against corona are developing the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) much faster than expected."
This claim has been vehemently rejected by scientists and medical experts.
The president, who contracted the virus last year and refuses to be vaccinated himself, defended his remarks, claiming he was merely quoting an article that appeared in the magazine.
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However, on Friday, Supreme Court Justice Alexander de Moras ruled that Bolsonaro had exploited social media for the "mass distribution" of his false allegations, and therefore a further investigation is needed. He instructed Brazil's Attorney General Augusto Aras to try and determine whether the president's remarks were related to a group of his supporters under investigation on suspicion of mass production of fake news.
The group, known in the local media as the "Ministry of Hate", disseminated misinformation throughout the plague and called for a military coup that would give Bolsonaro, a former military officer, unlimited powers to rule the country. Several of the president's allies, including the leader of the right-wing Labor Party, were arrested as part of the investigation.
Bolsonaro has been under heavy pressure in recent months and has faced several political crises that have hurt his popularity, ahead of next year’s election. In March, with a surge in the Corona death toll, the president called on Brazilians to "stop whining" and downplayed the severity of the epidemic, even though the health care system was facing collapse.
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