Bolsonaro was main beneficiary in illegal surveillance scheme, Brazil police allege
BRASILIA, June 18 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro allegedly helped orchestrate an illegal surveillance scheme by intelligence agency ABIN to target his political enemies during his term, a federal police report showed on Wednesday.
The report, which was released by the Supreme Court, said the group used ABIN to spy on and attack political foes and state institutions and to disseminate fake news.
The findings, based on testimony, documents from search operations and other evidence, identified Bolsonaro as the "main beneficiary" from the surveillance.
Bolsonaro's lawyer, Celso Vilardi, said he had not yet reviewed the police report and could not comment.
Despite implicating Bolsonaro, police did not formally accuse him in the report, which did accuse more than 30 other individuals.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said he made the findings public after leaks led to conflicting media reports on the matter on Tuesday.
Police noted potential links between the ABIN probe and an investigation into an alleged coup attempt, in which Bolsonaro is already a defendant.
The decision on whether to charge Bolsonaro in the surveillance case has been left to Brazil's Prosecutor General's Office.
Among those formally accused was Carlos Bolsonaro, the former president's son and a Rio de Janeiro city councilor, who police alleged was part of the criminal organization.
The younger Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, stating on Tuesday that the investigation aimed to harm him ahead of next year's elections.
Alexandre Ramagem, the former head of ABIN under Bolsonaro's administration, and Luiz Fernando Correa, the current head of the agency, were also among the people formally accused by police, the report showed.
Ramagem was accused of being part of a criminal organization and using ABIN to illegal ends, while Correa is suspected of obstructing the police investigation into the agency, police said.
Ramagem could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but said in a post on X on Tuesday that he would analyze the accusations once he had access to the police report.
ABIN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. It had declined to comment on Tuesday.
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Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Bolsonaro was main beneficiary in illegal surveillance scheme, Brazil police allege
BRASILIA, June 18 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro allegedly helped orchestrate an illegal surveillance scheme by intelligence agency ABIN to target his political enemies during his term, a federal police report showed on Wednesday. The report, which was released by the Supreme Court, said the group used ABIN to spy on and attack political foes and state institutions and to disseminate fake news. The findings, based on testimony, documents from search operations and other evidence, identified Bolsonaro as the "main beneficiary" from the surveillance. Bolsonaro's lawyer, Celso Vilardi, said he had not yet reviewed the police report and could not comment. Despite implicating Bolsonaro, police did not formally accuse him in the report, which did accuse more than 30 other individuals. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said he made the findings public after leaks led to conflicting media reports on the matter on Tuesday. Police noted potential links between the ABIN probe and an investigation into an alleged coup attempt, in which Bolsonaro is already a defendant. The decision on whether to charge Bolsonaro in the surveillance case has been left to Brazil's Prosecutor General's Office. Among those formally accused was Carlos Bolsonaro, the former president's son and a Rio de Janeiro city councilor, who police alleged was part of the criminal organization. The younger Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, stating on Tuesday that the investigation aimed to harm him ahead of next year's elections. Alexandre Ramagem, the former head of ABIN under Bolsonaro's administration, and Luiz Fernando Correa, the current head of the agency, were also among the people formally accused by police, the report showed. Ramagem was accused of being part of a criminal organization and using ABIN to illegal ends, while Correa is suspected of obstructing the police investigation into the agency, police said. Ramagem could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but said in a post on X on Tuesday that he would analyze the accusations once he had access to the police report. ABIN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. It had declined to comment on Tuesday.
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Brazil's federal police accused former president Jair Bolsonaro and 35 others of involvement in a sprawling scheme that used the country's intelligence agency to spy on members of the judiciary, lawmakers and journalists. The seal on the 1,125-page document, which adds to the far-right leader's woes, was lifted by the country's Supreme Court on Wednesday. The federal police document said Bolsonaro was both aware of the scheme and its main beneficiary. Investigator Daniel Carvalho Brasil Nascimento, who chairs the probe, named one of the former president's sons, Rio de Janeiro councilor Carlos Bolsonaro, as a key plot member. The police investigation focuses on a so-called parallel structure in Brazil's intelligence agency. '(Bolsonaro and Carlos) were responsible for the definitions of the criminal organization's strategic guidelines, for choosing the targets of the clandestine actions (against opponents, institutions, the electoral system) so they would politically gain from these operations,' the federal police said. 'They are the decision center and the main recipients of illicit advantages.' Bolsonaro, who governed between 2019 and 2022 and is already barred by Brazil 's electoral court from running in next year's elections, is standing on trial over allegations that he attempted a coup to stay in office despite his 2022 defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He denies any wrongdoing and claims he is being politically persecuted. One of the counts Bolsonaro will be sentenced on in the coup case is precisely on leading a criminal organization, which stopped federal police from requesting the same for the accusations revealed on Wednesday, as both investigations entwine. 'If he were accused again for the same facts, this would most likely come up against a prohibition called prohibition obis in idem, a Latin formula that means double punishment or double accusation for the same act,' said João Pedro Padua, a law professor at the Fluminense Federal University. The evidence revealed on Wednesday can still be used in the coup probe. Celso Vilardi, a lawyer for Bolsonaro, told the The Associated Press he was yet to analyze the federal police report and its accusations against his client. Brazil's federal police also accused Luiz Fernando Corrêa, the head of the country's intelligence agency under Lula, of undue interference in investigations. On Tuesday, staffers of the agency issued a statement to push for Corrêa's resignation. He did not respond a request for comment. Brazil's Supreme Court will hand the police investigation to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who will decide whether the investigation will be taken to the Supreme Court for trial. Last year, police arrested five people in connection with the case, under the suspicion that the Brazilian intelligence agency was being misused. Court documents showed then several authorities were under illegal investigation, including former speakers Arthur Lira and Rodrigo Maia, Supreme Court justices, officials of Brazil's environmental agency Ibama, former Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria and prominent political journalists. ____ Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
