Brazilian commission votes to recommend criminal charges against Bolsonaro

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(CNN) – A Brazilian commission investigating the government’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic concluded Tuesday by voting in favor of recommending charges against President Jair Bolsonaro on criminal charges for his handling of the pandemic.

Seven of the eleven senators on the commission voted in favor of the recommendations contained in a 1,288-page report.

It is not yet clear that the recommendation will result in charges.

Last week, the final report of the Brazilian Parliamentary Investigation Commission (CPI) was officially presented, recommending that the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, be charged with 10 alleged crimes for his handling of the pandemic.

After the members of the commission negotiated during the last days, the homicide charge that was initially in a draft of the report, was withdrawn and the genocide charge was changed to “crimes against humanity”.

In the report, Bolsonaro was accused of an epidemic resulting in death, charlatanism, incitement to crime, falsification of documents, irregular use of public funds, prevarication, crimes against humanity, violations of social rights, incompatibility with dignity, honor and decorum of the position, and violations of preventive health measures.

This is the first time in the history of Brazil that a parliamentary commission has drawn up such an extensive list of alleged crimes that they accuse a President of the Republic.

With information from Rodrigo Pedroso