CNN Brasil received draft excerpts of a congressional investigation which accuses Bolsonaro and other government officials of allowing the lethal coronavirus to spread through the population in hopes of achieving herd immunity.
Over 600,000 people have died of Covid-19 in Brazil — the second highest death toll in the world after the US.
The excerpts show that the probe’s report effectively blames the Bolsonaro administration’s policies for more than half of those deaths, and calls for murder charges against the president.
It also recommends criminal charges against 69 other people, including three of Bolsonaro’s sons and numerous current and former government officials.
The Brazilian Senate Pandemic Parliamentary Inquiry (CPI) told CNN the nearly 1,200-page document is expected to be officially discussed in the Brazilian Senate on Wednesday. It is not clear if the results of that report would lead to criminal charges. Parts of the draft document could still be changed or updated ahead of its formal presentation.
Bolsonaro’s office did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. However, the president has previously criticized the investigation into his pandemic handling as politically motivated.
