A Brazilian judge has declined to move forward cybercrime charges against journalist Glenn Greenwald temporarily in good initial news for the left-wing journalist.
Judge Ricardo Augusto Soares announced on Thursday that the prosecution of Greenwald would not proceed “for now.” He noted that the Brazilian Supreme Court previously ruled that his reporting had not violated any legal boundaries.
However, Soares noted that he would be open to charging Greenwald if the Supreme Court reverses their injunction, which means that Greenwald is not in the clear quite yet.
“I decline, for now, to receive the complaint against GLENN GREENWALD, due to the controversy over the extent of the injunction granted by Minister Gilmar Mendes in ADPF nº 601, on 08/24/2019,” wrote Leite, referring to the ruling by Supreme Court Minister Mendes, in his ruling.
Greenwald is calling for the courts to end the prosecution against him completely, as he argues that the charges are politically motivated and set a damaging precedent against free speech.
“While I welcome the fact that this investigation will not move forward, this decision is insufficient to guarantee the rights of a free press,” Greenwald said in a statement. “The rejection is based on the fact that the Supreme Court already issued an injunction against attempts of official persecution against me. This is not enough. We seek a decisive rejection from the Supreme Court of this abusive prosecution on the grounds that it is a clear and grave assault on core press freedoms. Anything less would leave open the possibility of further erosion of the fundamental freedom of the press against other journalists.”
“We will continue the fight against this authoritarian escalation before the Supreme Court, all while we keep reporting on the archive provided by our source,” Greenwald said.
Liberty Conservative News reported on the cybercrimes charges against Greenwald last month:
“Prosecutors are accusing Greenwald of being apart of a “criminal organization” that hacked into the phones of top Brazilian officials. This stems from reporting conducted by The Intercept Brasil, a publication co-founded by Greenwald, which featured leaked cellphone chats from former judge and current Bolsonaro justice minister Sérgio Moro and prosecutors who worked on the “Operation Car Wash” investigation.
Greenwald believes that right-wing forces conspired to jail former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, paving the way for Bolsonaro to take power. Lula is now once again a free man, absolved from the corruption in which he was convicted by a Supreme Court ruling. He may consider a run against Bolsonaro in the next national election.
Greenwald is calling the charges levied against him “an obvious attempt to attack a free press in retaliation for the revelations we reported about Minister Moro and the Bolsonaro government,” but Brazilian authorities claim that Greenwald’s publication aided and abetted criminal activity that exploited to form the basis of the controversial report.
Prosecutors claim that Greenwald communicated with the hackers while they were committing their crimes, and advised them on ways to cover their tracks. Greenwald moved to Brazil in 2005 to marry his homosexual lover David Miranda, who was elected to the Brazilian Congress last year…
Greenwald rose to become one of the world’s most noteworthy journalists after he published the extent of the NSA’s surveillance capacity after receiving leaks from whistle-blower Edward Snowden in 2013. He has understood for quite some time that his fearless style of reporting may ultimately result in severe consequences.”
We will continue to provide updates on Greenwald’s case as it develops.
