Brazil Senate report will urge charges against President Bolsonaro over the pandemic
BRASILIA, Brazil: Brazilians will turn their focus on Wednesday
to the Senate, where a report six months in the making will recommend President
Jair Bolsonaro be indicted on criminal charges for allegedly bungling the
response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and pushing the country's death toll to
second-highest in the world.
A draft of the report arising from a Senate committee's
investigation, a copy of which was reviewed by The Associated Press on Tuesday,
recommended the president be indicted on 11 charges, from charlatanism and
inciting crime all the way up to homicide and genocide.
In the committee's so-called "G7" group of
senators who aren't from Bolsonaro's base, three opposed inclusion of homicide
and genocide charges, said five committee members who agreed to discuss details
of the sensitive talks only if not quoted by name.
Analysts said it was unclear such recommendations would lead
to charges against the president. That would be a decision for Brazil's
prosecutor-general, who was appointed by the president.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing, and repeatedly accused
the investigation of being a political instrument aimed at sabotaging him.
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