Bolsonaro fires back at panel accusing him of homicide over handling of pandemic

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired back at the legislative panel accusing him of homicide over his poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling the charges “fantasies.”

In a report Wednesday, a Brazilian Senate panel accused Bolsonaro of crimes against humanity and recommended homicide charges after the more than 600,000 COVID-19 deaths in the country.

“I am not going to discuss these people’s fantasies. I am not going to discuss this load of stupidity,” he said on a radio station Thursday, The Associated Press reported. 

The report states Bolsonaro did not do enough to protect citizens and pushed unproven treatments for the coronavirus such as hydroxychloroquine. He continued to push the unproven treatments on the radio station Thursday.

Throughout the pandemic, Bolsonaro has pushed back against any sort of social restrictions and has himself refused to get the coronavirus vaccine. 

“We did not stick with the politically correct. I chose the right side and the side of the truth is always the toughest one,” Bolsonaro said, according to the AP. “Stay-at-home policies were among the most perverse in [the history of] humanity.”

Bolsonaro has contracted the virus during the pandemic and had to quarantine after an outbreak among top officials. 

The charges against Bolsonaro are unlikely to stick as they would have to be approved by his appointed prosecutor general and approved by the country’s lower House. 

Brazil has recorded more than 21.6 million cases throughout the pandemic, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.