Detainees from the January 8th riots which took place at several government buildings in Brazil’s capital city are being forced to take the Covid vaccine, as reported by Brazilian media.
Around 1,800 arrests were made in Brasília following the incident. Over one thousand protesters remain in custody following the release of several hundred protesters, primarily women, children, and elderly who were previously held in a detention facility with lack of access to food and water. Detainees were held in makeshift jail located in the gymnasium of the Federal Police Academy. Many people held in the gymnasium shared videos from inside displaying the crowded inhumane conditions which they were subjected to.
Detainees in the gymnasium of the National Academy of the PF, in Brasília, complain that they are being kept without food and water. Men, women, children and elderly. pic.twitter.com/KQoleeuMev
— Jayne Zirkle (@JayneZirkle) January 9, 2023
The remaining male prisoners were sent to Papuda prison while the female prisoners were sent to Colmeia penitentiary in Brasília. According to Estadão, a Brazilian publication based out of São Paulo, upon arrival inmates were forcibly injected with the Covid vaccine. They were also given a rolled-up mattress and a hygiene kit. Papuda prison has a history of infectious disease rapidly spreading amongst prisoners and unsanitary conditions.
Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro has gone on record to say he decided against taking the Covid vaccine and supports people’s right to choose whether or not they receive it. In an interview he argued the case for medical freedom, saying, “For me, (it is) freedom above all. If a citizen does not want to get the vaccine, it is his right and that’s it.”
Many of the detainees who have been released have struggled to get back to their homes. Several have taken refuge in a church in Brasília where they remain loyal to their cause and believe that the Brazilian election was stolen. Their basis for that accusation is heavily focused on abnormalities in electronic voting machines used in the election.
Calls for Bolsonaro to be expelled from the U.S. where he currently is staying in Florida have been made by several left wing politicians in both the U.S. and Brazil. Prosecutors in Brazil have asked the court to seize the assets of the former President while global political leaders have pledged their support for President Lula in the wake of the January 8th events.
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