Coronavirus: Brazilian justice prohibits the government from advocating non-containment

Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against the containment measures recommended by the WHO on March 27, 2020 in Manaus. REUTERS / Bruno Kelly

Text by: RFI Follow

Brazilian justice has banned the government from broadcasting a video opposing containment measures imposed during the pandemic. She also opposed a decree allowing places of worship and lottery offices to reopen, while Brazil officially has 114 dead and nearly 4,000 suspected cases.

Publicity

Read more

President Jair Bolsonaro has just suffered a series of setbacks, after speaking out against the end of the quarantine imposed in several regions of Brazil. An official video titled "Brazil can't stop" has been censored by federal courts. A magistrate ordered that the government respect the isolation rules advocated by the World Health Organization.

The Presidency confirmed the existence of the spot, but said it was an "experimental" video. Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, one of the sons of the head of state, released the video on Thursday evening on his Facebook page, where it was still visible this Saturday at midday.

In its decision, the federal justice prohibits the diffusion not only of this video, but also of " any other which would encourage the Brazilian population to behaviors which are not strictly based on technical directives issued by the Ministry of Health ", specifies our correspondent in Sao Paulo, Martin Bernard .

This comes after Jair Bolsonaro invited people to return to work , against the advice of his own Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta. Pro-Bolsonaro motorists also paraded by honking their horns in the streets of big cities, to demand the reopening of shops.

In addition, the courts annulled a decree which classified churches and temples, as well as lottery offices, among essential services, and therefore not subject to quarantine. The government has appealed these two decisions.

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Subscribe

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Brazil
  • Coronavirus
  • Jair Bolsonaro

On the same subject

Coronavirus: in Brazil, President Bolsonaro persists in denial

Coronavirus: Brazil's athletes deaf to President Bolsonaro's calls