Police call for Bolsonaro to be charged for spreading Covid misinformation

Brazilian federal police have called for President Jair Bolsonaro to be charged with spreading fake information about a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 680,000 of his citizens, including bogus claims of a link between Aids and Covid vaccines.

On Wednesday night a senior federal police investigator was reported to have written to the supreme court asking for Bolsonaro to be questioned and charged with the crime of incitement, when someone encourages another person to commit an offense.

That alleged crime, which is punishable with up to six months in prison, relates to a notorious social media broadcast in October 2021 which was subsequently removed by YouTube and Facebook.