Investigation into former President Bolsonaro for ‘harassing’ humpback whale with jet ski

NOS News•today, 05:36

Brazil’s former president Bolsonaro is once again under police investigation in his own country. This time it concerns an incident with a whale.

Bolsonaro is said to have sailed a jet ski about fifteen meters from the humpback whale on holiday last summer. He allegedly made a video with his mobile phone.

Brazilian law prohibits “the deliberate harassment of all cetaceans”, including dolphins and humpback whales. Furthermore, ships with a running engine are not allowed by the environmental agency to come within a radius of 100 meters of such animals. The federal police have now launched an investigation, The Guardian reports.

Bolsonaro calls the investigation politically motivated. “Every day they accuse me of some act of mischief. Yesterday I was hunting whales,” the former president told his supporters. He then compared the Minister of Justice to a whale.

The former president is not known for his love of nature. For example, he was nicknamed ‘chief chainsaw’ because during his term in government there was large-scale deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.

Several police and judicial investigations are underway against Bolsonaro, such as the falsification of data on corona vaccinations. He also allegedly failed to properly declare jewelry he received in Saudi Arabia. Last month, a parliamentary investigative committee said the former president should be prosecuted for storming government buildings in January.

Bolsonaro is banned from participating in elections until 2030 due to abuse of power. According to the highest judges in Brazil, he unfairly sowed doubt about electronic voting in the country.