Federal Police Uncover Threats Against Supreme Court Justices

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Threats against Supreme Court Justices were uncovered by the Federal Police (PF) in January and triggered an alert among the members of the Court.

According to the columnist for Folha de S. Paulo Mônica Bergamo, the Presiding Justice of the Court, Dias Toffoli, circulated a letter among his colleagues on February 12th alerting them to the risk of “attacks against justices”.

In a statement released after the story was published, the PF stated that “in recent weeks, routine monitoring has found messages exchanged via the Deep Web, with insults and threats to government officials”.

However, “such threats were generic and did not provide evidence of any elaborate plans for a potential attack,” according to the police note. The Deep Web is a section of the Internet that is not linked to search engines and where criminal organizations plan actions, among other features.

The confidential letter circulated by Toffoli also urges the justices to “strengthen personal security in daily activities,” given that alleged terrorists have commented on Internet forums that the routine and easy access to members of the Court would facilitate an attack.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is rapporteur for a case that investigates attacks and fake news against the STF, is said to have been the first to be briefed, directly by the PF, and passed the information on to the Presiding Justice.

El Pais news site questioned the Justices’ clerks and the Court’s press office, which have not commented on the case so far. Minister Sérgio Moro, in charge of the PF, has also not commented on the potential threat.

The use of the deep web in planning terrorist acts has become increasingly common throughout the world. In some cases the attacks are even broadcast online, and the result is celebrated in restricted forums, known as ‘chans’. The attack on Raul Brasil State School, in Suzano, which occurred in March 2019 and left ten dead, is said to have been prepared on the deep web, according to the PF investigations.

(Source: El Pais)