RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, July 8th, a group of 40 lawyers met with journalist Glenn Greenwald, from The Intercept Brasil website, to make themselves available to him and other journalists involved in the disclosure of Sérgio Moro’s messages with prosecutors who worked in Operation Lava Jato.
The group intends to establish a Committee for Freedom of the Press to defend threatened reporters, in this and other cases that could lead to reprisals by the Government.
This mobilization began following the announcement that the Federal Police, under Minister Sérgio Moro, allegedly called for COAF (Council for the Control of Financial Activities) to scrutinize Greenwald’s bank accounts.
This was regarded as blatant attempted persecution and retaliation by senators, who demanded explanations, by deputies and by political parties. The Network will go to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to halt any investigation against Greenwald.
The TCU (Federal Audit Court) summoned Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, who commands the COAF, to determine whether the information is accurate. An answer was supposed to be provided yesterday, July 9th.
The meeting with Greenwald brought together representatives of the leading Brazilian legal bodies, such as OAB (Brazilian Bar Association), IDDD (Institute of Defense Law), IBCCRIM (Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences), ABDJ (Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy), IAB (Institute of Brazilian Lawyers), the Association of Criminal Lawyers of Rio de Janeiro and the SASP (São Paulo Lawyers Union).
Both federal and Rio de Janeiro public defenders attended.
Among those present were Nilo Batista, who represents Greenwald, jurists Geraldo Prado, Aury Lopes and Juarez Tavares, Carol Proner, from ABDJ, Dora Cavalcanti and Marina Dias, from IDDD, Juliano Breda, from OAB, Luciano Bandeira, from OAB-RJ, Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, from Prerrogativas group, Eleonora Nassif, Roberto Podval, Maíra Fernandes, retired judge Kenarik Boujikian and Vitor Marques, from SASP.
Well-known criminal lawyers such as Alberto Toron and Antonio Carlos de Almeida Castro sent messages.
The meeting was secretly arranged at Estela Aranha’s house to avoid endangering Greenwald and his team. Journalist Leandro Demori, from The Intercept Brasil, was also present.
Lava Jato defendants’ lawyers have reported on alleged abuses by the task force prosecutors and Moro, who was the operation’s judge for five years.
A manifesto in support of freedom of expression and Nilo Batista’s team, Glenn Greenwald’s lawyer, should soon be released.