Pressure on former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s staff increased Monday with a search of the home of one of his sons as part of an investigation into suspected illegal spying on political opponents during his tenure.
“New searches were carried out as a continuation of an operation carried out on Thursday with the aim of investigating a criminal organization within the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN),” police said. Federal (PF) said in a press release.
One of the targets of the searches was Carlos Bolsonaro, a municipal councilor in Rio de Janeiro and the second of four sons of the former far-right president, according to a judicial ruling authorizing the searches Monday in several Brazilian states.
Investigators suspect that Abin used Israeli spyware called FirstMile to spy on hundreds of politicians and public figures during the Bolsonaro presidency (2019-2022).
The PF explained in its press release that this “new phase” of the operation launched on Thursday was aimed at “identifying the political core, key recipients and beneficiaries of information illegally produced by Abin through covert acts”.
– “persecution” –
The judicial ruling, signed by Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, specifically referred to Abin’s request for information on an investigation “involving the president (Bolsonaro) and his three sons.”
A February 2020 request by an aide to Carlos Bolsonaro to an associate of the then head of the intelligence agency, Alexandre Ramagem, during an exchange of messages on WhatsApp reproduced in a court document, according to investigators.
“One of my sons would never make such a request, and if he had, it would have been rejected by Mr. Ramagame,” Jair Bolsonaro said Monday, during an interview with the CNN Brazil channel, hours after the discovery. .
According to him, his son Carlos will be interviewed by the police on Tuesday.
“I have never received the slightest information on anyone’s whereabouts. I have never required, requested, received the slightest report from Abin,” the former president asserted, insisting that he was a victim of “persecution”.
Abin’s former chief, now a federal deputy in Mr Bolsonaro’s Liberal party, was the target of one of 21 searches carried out on Thursday in connection with the same affair.
– fishing trip –
On Monday, police visited a total of nine addresses in Rio de Janeiro (southeast), Goiás (midwest) and Bahia (northeast), as well as in the Federal District of Brasilia.
Carlos Bolsonaro’s home in Rio de Janeiro and his office at the municipal assembly were searched.
Police also went to the residence where Jair Bolsonaro and his first three sons were in Angra dos Reis, a seaside town about 150 km from Rio.
The former president’s third son, deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, condemned the “excesses” he said were carried out during the search, denouncing the legal action as “illegal in addition to being immoral.”
He also denied rumors that the Bolsonaro clan fled by boat after learning of the discovery.
“As soon as they knew PF was in the residence, Jer and Carlos came home,” he assured.
A lawyer for the Bolsonaro family indicated on X (formerly Twitter) that they left at dawn for a fishing trip.
Globonews television images showed police officers leaving the Angra dos Reis home as Jair Bolsonaro and his son Carlos were filmed outside the front door.
The judicial document greenlighting the first search cited Judge Moraes as among the people who were spied on, such as Rodrigo Maia, former president of the Chamber of Deputies, and Camilo Santana, the governor of Cara state (north-east) at the time, and now left-wing president Luiz Inacio. Minister of Education under Lula da Silva
Sentenced to eight years of disqualification last year for spreading false information on an electronic voting system, Jair Bolsonaro, 68, has been besieged in business, particularly for corruption, since he lost the late 2022 presidential election to Lula.
Published at 10:48 pm on January 29, AFP
