Ex-Brazil health official arrested
BRASILIA: Drama erupted in Brazil’s Congress on Wednesday as a former Health Ministry official was arrested under the orders of the lawmaker leading a Senate inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis.
Roberto Dias had been a logistics director at the Health Ministry but was fired last week after he was accused of asking for a bribe in the procurement of the Indian Covid-19 shot Covaxin. He has denied the accusation.
He was arrested at the behest of Senator Omar Aziz on allegations that he lied in his testimony to the Senate inquiry (CPI) earlier in the day.
The Senate panel conducting the probe into the government’s handling of the crisis has the power to detain. It was unclear whether he will be questioned by the civil or federal police.
The Supreme Court has approved an investigation into President Jair Bolsonaro’s role in the deal. Mr Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing.
“Arresting someone is not an easy decision. But I cannot let the CPI become a laughing stock. We have more than 527,000 dead in this pandemic. And people are doing deals with vaccines. The commission seeks justice for Brazil,” Mr Aziz wrote on Twitter.
Mr Dias’s accuser Luiz Paulo Dominguetti claims to be a representative of a company that negotiated the deal.
Mr Dias told the CPI that their meeting was a chance encounter. But audio messages from Mr Dominguetti’s cell phone released to the CPI appeared to imply that the meeting was scheduled in advance.
Senators asked Mr Aziz to reconsider his order to arrest Mr Dias, arguing that other CPI witnesses had also been liberal with the truth and had not been apprehended.
But Mr Aziz refused to budge, and Mr Dias was whisked away by Congress police.