According to the report to be presented to the ICC, Bolsonaro and his sons Flávio, Carlos and Eduardo lead a criminal mechanism that promoted ineffective treatments during the pandemic.

Brasilia, October 17 (RHC)-- The rapporteur of the Brazilian Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), Senator Renan Calheiros, who examines whether there was negligence in the management of President Jair Bolsonaro on COVID-19, said Saturday that the president and his sons lead a scheme to produce and disseminate lies that caused the death of hundreds of thousands due to the pandemic.

Calheiros denounced that Bolsonaro contributed to more than 400,000 deaths that could have been avoided (out of a total of more than 600,000) if his government had adopted the measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The senator's revelations correspond to the report that Calheiros himself will present before the ICC on October 19, specifically in the chapter dedicated to false news.

Calheiros stated that from the evidence and information obtained by the ICC, there are elements to charge Bolsonaro for the crimes of malfeasance, epidemic resulting in death, irregular use of public funds and crimes against humanity, among others.

The legislator specified that Bolsonaro and his sons Flávio, Carlos and Eduardo constitute what he called the "command nucleus" of a mechanism that promoted ineffective treatments during the pandemic.

About them, he explained that they have "the function of directing the organization and strategically guiding the actions carried out at the lower levels of the hierarchy, giving them guidelines and informing them of the priorities for action".

He mentioned that this nucleus interacts with the formulating focus, which includes two government advisors, Filipe Martins and Tércio Arnaud Ferraz.  And he added that deputies such as Carla Zambelli and Bia Kicis, among others who stood out for spreading fake news during the pandemic, make up the "political core" of the scheme.

In Calheiros' opinion, also in charge of disseminating fake news were bolsonaristas such as journalist Alexandre Garcia and commentators Rodrigo Constantino and Ana Paula, among others who integrate the core of "production and dissemination of fake news".

The scheme also includes a "financing core" to spread lies, headed by businessmen Luciano Hang, owner of the Havan department store chain, and Otávio Fakhoury.