Brasilia:
A Supreme Court justice ruled Wednesday President Jair Bolsonaro must be investigated for unproven claims Brazil’s voting method is riddled with fraud, adding the far-suitable leader to an ongoing probe on the spread of fake news by his government.
The ruling by Justice Alexandre de Moraes came immediately after Bolsonaro stepped up his longtime attacks on Brazil’s electronic voting method, claiming — devoid of proof — that it is fraud-plagued and insisting there will be no elections next year as scheduled if it is not overhauled.
The Superior Electoral Court had asked the Supreme Court to situation the ruling, immediately after itself placing the president below investigation for his campaign against Brazil’s voting method.
The Supreme Court agreed, discovering Bolsonaro must face investigation for slander and inciting criminal acts for his undocumented claims of huge vote fraud.
The electoral court’s personal probe will investigate the president for abuse of workplace, improper use of official communication channels, corruption, fraud and other possible crimes.
Bolsonaro has extended criticized electronic voting, introduced in Brazil in 1996.
He has stepped up his attacks in the construct-up to the October 2022 elections, insisting on “printable and auditable” paper ballots as a backstop to the electronic method.
Opinion polls location the 66-year-old leader effectively behind leftist ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the presidential race.
There are fears Bolsonaro could attempt to use fraud claims to undermine the election if he loses, following in the footsteps of former US president Donald Trump, with whom he is generally compared
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