Brazil's spy agency accused of illegally targeting Bolsonaro's foes

Source: The Guardian

Brazil’s spy agency accused of illegally targeting Bolsonaro’s foes

Five arrested in investigation of claims Abin monitored and harassed top public figures and politicians

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Thu 11 Jul 2024 21.12 BST
Last modified on Thu 11 Jul 2024 21.13 BST

Brazil’s intelligence agency was illegally weaponised during Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right administration to monitor and harass some of the country’s most important politicians, journalists, judges and environmental officials, federal police have alleged.

Five people were arrested on Thursday as part of a long-running investigation into suspicions that during Bolsonaro’s 2019-22 government the Agência Brasileira de Inteligência (Abin) was used to spy on the president’s political foes.

According to a 187-page police document, the targets included some of Brazil’s best-known public figures and politicians from across the political spectrum.

Those targeted allegedly include: the head of Brazil’s lower house, Arthur Lira, and his predecessor, Rodrigo Maia; prominent allies of the current leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, including the senator, Randolfe Rodrigues; conservative figures including the former governor of São Paulo state, João Doria; four supreme court judges; two prominent political journalists, Vera Magalhães and Mônica Bergamo; and two senior officials from the environmental protection agency, Ibama, Hugo Loss and Roberto Cabral.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/11/brazils-spy-agency-accused-of-illegally-targeting-bolsonaros-foes