Federal Judge Renato Borelli ruled, in a decision revealed to the public on Tuesday, that Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will be subject to a fine of 2,000 reais ($387) a day if he continues to disobey ordinances in the federal district requiring the public to wear masks in public spaces in the capital, Brasilia, and the surrounding federal district.
Brazil currently has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases and related fatalities in the world after the US. The requirement to wear masks in the federal district officially came into force on April 30. Ibaneis Rocha, the governor of the federal district, decided to adopt the rule in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the capital. The law requires all people to cover their nose and mouth in any public space. Public spaces include all public transport, shops and businesses.
After many citizens flaunted the requirement, fines of 2,000 reais ($387; £310) per day were added May 11. Bolsonaro has been accused of downplaying the severity of the epidemic both internationally and in Brazil, as well as failing to prepare the country for the outbreak properly. He has consistently been seen in public without a mask and reportedly has been documented coughing and sneezing on those around him. Bolsonaro is not the first politician to break the ordinance with several others, also refusing to comply with the recently imposed fines.
The ruling means that Bolsonaro and other politicians are not exempt from the fines and must pay the daily fines or begin masks in public. According to AFP, the judges ruling said that, “The president has a constitutional obligation to follow the laws in force in the country, as well as to promote the general welfare of the people, which means taking the necessary measures to protect citizens’ right to health.” Additionally, according to the Associated Press, the judge also added that Bolsonaro “has exposed other people to the contagion of a disease that has caused national commotion.”
Bolsonaro has not yet commented on the ruling. However, Brazil’s solicitor general has reportedly said that the government was studying ways to reverse the judge’s ruling.
