Former Brazilian president Bolsonaro was main beneficiary in illegal surveillance scheme, police allege
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Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro allegedly helped orchestrate an illegal surveillance scheme to target political enemies during his term, a federal police report shows.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BRASILIA - 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 June 18.
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 Mr Bolsonaro as the “main beneficiary” from the surveillance.
Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Mr Celso Vilardi, said he had not yet reviewed the police report and could not comment.
Despite implicating Mr 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 June 17.
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 the former president’s son Carlos Bolsonaro and a Rio de Janeiro city councillor, who police alleged was part of the criminal organisation.
The younger Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, stating on June 17 that the investigation aimed to harm him ahead of the 2026 elections.
Mr Alexandre Ramagem, the former head of ABIN under Bolsonaro’s administration, and Mr Luiz Fernando Correa, the current head of the agency, were also among the people formally accused by police, the report showed.
Mr Ramagem was accused of being part of a criminal organisation and using ABIN to illegal ends, while Mr Correa is suspected of obstructing the police investigation into the agency, police said.
Mr Ramagem could not be reached for comment on June 18, but said in a post on social media platform X on June 17 that he would analyse the accusations once he had access to the police report.
ABIN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on June 18. It had declined to comment on June 17. REUTERS
