Brazil's Bolsonaro accuses Supreme Court justices of partisanship
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Loading... - Freya Darren
- 13 Jan 2022
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Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has accused two members of the Supreme Court of taking sides in this year’s election and favouring left-wing leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Bolsonaro has railed at justices Luis Roberto Barroso and Alexandre de Moraes for months over rulings against his policies and investigations into the president, including one for spreading fake news related to COVID-19.
Lula, who was president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, spent a year and a half in jail on corruption charges that were annulled by the Supreme Court last year, allowing him to run again in this year’s election.
Bolsonaro and Lula are expected to face off in a polarised election in October, though neither have formally declared they will run.
“Barroso and Alexandre de Moraes want Lula to be president,” Bolsonaro said in a television interview on Wednesday. “OK, they might not want to vote for me, but do they want to return to office the man who robbed the nation for eight years?”
Barroso last month ruled on requiring vaccination proof from all travellers arriving in Brazil, a measure contrary to the views of vaccine-sceptic Bolsonaro. De Moraes oversees five investigations of the president, including one into his comments falsely associating coronavirus vaccines with AIDS.
The latest comments by Bolsonaro, who has faced widespread criticism and protests for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, came as polls show Lula with a clear lead over the far-right leader in advance of the upcoming vote.
Lula would get 45 percent of the votes against 23 percent for Bolsonaro if the election were held today, according to a Banco Genial/Quaest Pesquisas poll released on Wednesday. Read More…
