A new batch of leaked documents, revealed by American journalist Michael Shellenberger, led by journalists and researchers David Ágape, Eli Vieira Jr., and edited by Alex Gutentag, brings to light allegations that the Federal Supreme Court (STF) illegally used social media posts to arrest protesters and supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
According to the documents dubbed “January 8 Files,” a secret intelligence task force was formed with the objective of identifying and keeping protesters imprisoned after the invasion of the Three Powers buildings in Brasília on January 8, 2023 – even those who had not committed violent acts.
Among the main points revealed by the files are:
• The existence of a secret WhatsApp group that coordinated the production of “intelligence certificates” to incriminate suspects;
• The prolonged detention of protesters while their social media was scoured for evidence of political speech;
• The use of speeches and online posts as criminal evidence, instead of concrete actions;
• The denial of access to defense lawyers to probative materials;
• The use of a biometric database allegedly without legal backing to identify and locate suspects.
The investigation points out that:
“Moraes, serving Lula’s interests, circumvented the law to effectively criminalize political speech. His excessive judicial repression against the protesters helped legitimize the narrative that January 8 was a coordinated “coup attempt” – a central narrative for the ongoing court case against Bolsonaro”.
On social network X, formerly Twitter, Ágape highlights that there are absurd cases in the arrests and recalls that the criteria to keep someone imprisoned included following right-wing pages, criticizing Lula or the STF, or posting something in support of the protests.
The journalist also states that he is risking everything, his career, his safety, and his freedom to disclose the documents.
See below the full note:
“Today, we are publishing the continuation of Vaza Toga. The same one revealed by Glenn Greenwald and Fábio Serapião in Folha de S.Paulo — and which, after a few reports, simply stopped. Yes, finally you will stop asking me what happened to the rest of those 6 gigs of files.
These are documents that no one wanted to publish. I offered them to various major media outlets — all refused. Some praised the work, recognized its importance, but said it was “too dangerous.” Now, I resume the partnership with @EliVieiraJr Vieira and American journalist @shellenberger — the same team from Twitter Files Brasil, which revealed to the world the censorship by the Brazilian Judiciary.
This new phase of the investigation shows that the STF created a parallel task force within the TSE to investigate and classify the January 8 prisoners. They used secret systems, violated internal databases, and scoured social media for likes, posts, and political opinions — all without a court order, without due process, and without the right to defense.
The criteria to keep someone imprisoned included following right-wing pages, criticizing Lula or the STF, or posting something in support of the protests. There are absurd cases. People kept imprisoned even after the PGR recommended release. People punished for tweets from 2018 criticizing the PT — four years before the elections and five years before the January 8 acts.
As everyone knows, the January 8 inquiry became an instrument to persecute any right-wing person. And this investigation, which took months of silent and meticulous work, proves with documents how it was done. It involved hours of analysis, data cross-referencing, source verification, and interviews with involved parties. A risky, difficult job that required courage.
I am risking everything. Everything. My career, my safety, my freedom. I thought a lot before publishing this material. The safest decision for me would be not to publish. I was advised to stay quiet. But as a journalist, I cannot stay silent. Not in the face of what we discovered. And even less while there are still Brazilians imprisoned or unjustly persecuted because of January 8.
That is why I ask you to consider supporting A Investigação. I deeply thank those who already support us. It is because of you that this is still possible. And I reiterate the request: if you believe in what we are doing, help us continue.
They tried to bury the truth. But the truth has a flaw: it insists on coming out. And now, after months of silence, it is back — with full force.”
Source: www.diariodopoder.com.br