Twenty-one
recipients of Brazil’s National Order of Scientific Merit, one of the country’s
highest honours, rejected their medals on Saturday after President Jair
Bolsonaro withdrew the names of two of their colleagues from the list of honourees.

25 people
were named by the President on Wednesday to receive the award, before withdrawing
the names of two prominent scientists – whose work went against his government’s
narrative on certain issues, according to news agency AFP.

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One of the
scientists was Dr Marcus Lacerda, who was one of the first to find that the
drug chloroquine is ineffective against COVID-19, while Bolsonaro claimed
otherwise.

The other scientist was Dr Adele Benzaken, who was removed as the
head of the health ministry’s HIV/AIDS department in 2019 after Bolsonaro took office, over a pamphlet her department published regarding at transgender men.

In protest,
all 20 scientists remaining in the list of honourees and one of three “national
personalities” named by Bolsonaro rejected their medals in an open letter.

“This is
yet another clear demonstration of the persecution of scientists and the latest
step in the current government’s systematic attack on science and technology,”
the letter read. “This act of protest, which saddens us, expresses our
indignation at the destruction of Brazil’s university system and of science and
technology in general.”

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Bolsonaro has
often rejected scientific research and has a history of spreading misinformation,
particularly on COVID-19. The far-right president has also received widespread
criticisms from the scientific community over budget cuts for research and
technology.

He has long
advocated the use of chloroquine for treating COVID-19, despite evidence that
it was ineffective. He has also flouted mask protocols and other measures aimed
at containing the pandemic.

Benzaken,
who is now the director of a leading public health institute in the Amazon
region, said she was “extremely honoured” by her colleagues’ decision to reject
their medals, calling the government’s treatment of her and Lacerda “inelegant”.

“That was
the greatest honor of all,” she told AFP. “There have been heavy cuts to
funding for science in Brazil, a total disregard for statements based on
scientific evidence, little value attributed to science.”