RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Supreme Court (STF) Justice Gilmar Mendes threatened to charge President Jair Bolsonaro with the crime of genocide, with a prison sentence of up to 40 years, the maximum penalty under the Anti-Crime Law he [Bolsonaro] and ex-Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro approved – in force since January 2020.
Gilmar said the manipulation of statistical data on the novel coronavirus, precluding specific actions by Brazilian health authorities, will not exempt the President from a potential crime of genocide.
Genocide is typified in Law 2,889/1956 and in articles 121, 129, 270, 125, and 148 of the Brazilian Criminal Code, which are provisions that describe the illegal practices of first-degree murder and serious bodily injury.
“The manipulation of statistics is a move typical of totalitarian regimes,” wrote the justice, in a tone of severity. For Gilmar Mendes, the practice is an attempt by the federal government to conceal COVID-19 figures to reduce social control of health policies.
“The trick will not exempt him from responsibility for potential genocide,” threatened the STF Justice, who issued the threat on Twitter, with a hint of promise. He even used two hashtags ‘#CensuraNao’ (#NoCensorship) and ‘#DitaduraNuncaMais’ (#DictatorshipNeverMore) to tag the text on social media.
In fact, after the censorship of data on Covid-19, Jair Bolsonaro was called a “dictator” on social media and compared to the North Korean president Kim Jong-un. Bolsonaro’s censorship caused a real blackout in the Johns Hopkins University’s global balance on the coronavirus in Brazil.
The Brazilian data are crucial for the institution to be able to track the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world. Until Friday, June 5th, in the last Johns Hopkins report, Brazil was second in the international case ranking and third in the number of deaths.
“The manipulation of statistics is a move by totalitarian regimes. An attempt is being made to hide the numbers of #COVID19 to reduce social control of health policies. The trick will not exempt him from responsibility for potential genocide. #CensuraNao #DitaduraNuncaMais”
– Gilmar Mendes (@gilmarmendes) June 6th, 2020″