“The Bolsonaro government has repeatedly made it
clear that it does not believe in basic press
freedoms. Today’s announcement that a criminal
complaint has been filed against Intercept
co-founding editor Glenn Greenwald is the latest
example of journalists facing serious threats in
Brazil,” The Intercept said in its statement,
which can be read below in full. “We are
appalled that Brazil’s Public Ministry has
decided to file such a blatantly politically
motivated charge against Greenwald, in apparent
retaliation for The Intercept’s critical
reporting on abuses committed by Justice
Minister Moro and several federal prosecutors.”
“We at The Intercept see this as an attempt to
criminalize not only our journalism but also
that of the dozens of partners who collaborated
with our staff in over 95 stories based on the
archives,” The Intercept said. “There is no
democracy without a free press, and defenders of
the press everywhere should be deeply concerned
about Bolsonaro’s latest authoritarian move.”
Greenwald denied the charges in his
statement, citing a previous Brazilian Federal
Police investigation that concluded he had
committed no crimes and noted his “careful and
distant posture regarding the execution” of the
alleged hacks.
|
Are You Tired Of
The Lies And
Non-Stop Propaganda?
|
“Less than two months ago, the Federal Police,
examining all the same evidence cited by the
Public Ministry, stated explicitly that not only
have I never committed any crime but that I
exercised extreme caution as a journalist never
even to get close to any participation,”
Greenwald said in the statement, which can be
read below in full. “Even the Federal Police
under Minister Moro’s command said what is clear
to any rational person: I did nothing more than
do my job as a journalist — ethically and within
the law.”
“This accusation — brought by the
same prosecutor who just tried and failed to
criminally prosecute the head of the Brazilian
Bar Association for criticizing Minister Moro —
is an obvious attempt to attack a free press in
retaliation for the revelations we reported
about Minister Moro and the Bolsonaro
government,” said Greenwald, who also co-founded
The Intercept Brasil. “We will not be
intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to
silence journalists. I am working right now on
new reporting and will continue to do so.”
Operation Car Wash prosecuted major Brazilian
construction firms and politicians. Among its
most controversial convictions was that of
former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva, whose imprisonment on corruption charges
removed him from contention in the 2018
presidential elections, despite leading in the
polls. Instead, Bolsonaro won the office and
quickly appointed Moro, the judge who convicted
Lula, as his justice minister. After the Secret
Brazil Archive reporting, the Brazilian Supreme
Court released Lula on the basis of a procedural
argument, a stinging rebuke of Moro’s work.
The series of Intercept stories about Operation
Car Wash relied on a trove of previously
undisclosed materials and provided an
unprecedented insight into the anti-corruption
investigation. The revelations included
scheming
by purportedly apolitical prosecutors to ensure
that Lula’s Workers’ Party did not win the
election;
prohibited
collaboration between the Car Wash
prosecutors and Moro; and controversial
personal enrichment by prosecutors, among
many other revelations published in
English and
Portuguese.
The Brazilian federal
prosecutor who filed the criminal
complaint, Wellington Divino Marques
de Oliveira, who works in Moro’s Justice
Ministry but has prosecutorial independence,
wrote in the complaint that Greenwald had
“directly assisted, encouraged and guided the
criminal group, DURING the criminal practice,
acting as guarantor of the group, obtaining
financial advantage with the conduct
described here.”
Bolsonaro has himself previously suggested
that he would like to deport Greenwald and
threatened to imprison the journalist for his
work. At the time, The Intercept condemned the
threat in a
statement and reiterated that Greenwald and
The Intercept’s other reporters enjoy free-press
protections under the Brazilian constitution.
Read The Intercept’s full statement:
The Bolsonaro government has repeatedly
made it clear that it does not believe in
basic press freedoms. Today’s announcement
that a criminal complaint has been filed
against Intercept co-founding editor Glenn
Greenwald is the latest example of
journalists facing serious threats in
Brazil.
The evidence cited today by Brazil’s
Public Ministry is the same that was
rigorously analyzed by the country’s Federal
Police, leading the agency to conclude that
Greenwald did not commit any crimes in his
contacts with the alleged source of our
Secret Brazil Archive stories. Glenn
Greenwald was not formally investigated by
the Federal Police, but they concluded that
there was no indication of wrongdoing
committed by him.
We are appalled that Brazil’s Public
Ministry has decided to file such a
blatantly politically motivated charge
against Greenwald, in apparent retaliation
for The Intercept’s critical reporting on
abuses committed by Justice Minister Moro
and several federal prosecutors.
We at The Intercept see this as an
attempt to criminalize not only our
journalism but also that of the dozens of
partners who collaborated with our staff in
over 95 stories based on the archives. There
is no democracy without a free press, and
defenders of the press everywhere should be
deeply concerned about Bolsonaro’s latest
authoritarian move.
Read Glenn Greenwald’s full statement:
The Bolsonaro government and the movement
that supports it has made repeatedly clear
that it does not believe in basic press
freedoms — from Bolsonaro’s threats against
Folha to his attacks on journalists that
have incited violence to Sergio Moro’s
threats from the start to classify us as
“allies of the hackers” for revealing his
corruption.
Less than two months ago, the Federal
Police, examining all the same evidence
cited by the Public Ministry, stated
explicitly that not only have I never
committed any crime but that I exercised
extreme caution as a journalist never even
to get close to any participation. Even the
Federal Police under Minister Moro’s command
said what is clear to any rational person: I
did nothing more than do my job as a
journalist — ethically and within the law.
This accusation — brought by the same
prosecutor who just tried and failed to
criminally prosecute the head of the
Brazilian Bar Association for criticizing
Minister Moro — is an obvious attempt to
attack a free press in retaliation for the
revelations we reported about Minister Moro
and the Bolsonaro government. It is also on
an attack on the Brazilian Supreme Court,
which ruled in July that I am entitled to
have my press freedom protected in response
to other retaliatory attacks from Minister
Moro, and even an attack on the findings of
the Federal Police, which concluded
explicitly after a comprehensive
investigation that I committed no crimes and
solely acted as a journalist.
We will not be intimidated by these
tyrannical attempts to silence journalists.
I am working right now on new reporting and
will continue to do so. Many courageous
Brazilians sacrificed their liberty and even
life for Brazilian democracy and against
repression, and I feel an obligation to
continue their noble work.
This article was originally published by
"The
Intercept" -
