Journalist Association Criticizes Greenwald for Calling Newspaper Reporters Corrupt

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL –  In a note released on Friday, September 13th, the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalists (ABRAJI) also expressed its solidarity with reporters Juliana Dal Piva and João Paulo Saconi, reporters who pointed out atypical financial transactions by federal deputy David Miranda, Greenwald’s husband.

“No journalist should be accused without evidence for carrying out their duty to disclose information. We deplore the fact that a journalist uses devices of which he himself is a frequent victim – accusations and discrediting – against other colleagues, overstepping the limit of criticism of the work done,” says ABRAJI.

In the video produced after the newspaper’s report, Greenwald says he knows “exactly who the corrupt are in this case”.

“It’s not David Miranda, it’s the prosecutors in the Prosecutor’s Office and the reporters and editors of ‘O Globo’, who published a garbage article,” he says.

According to the report, COAF (Council of Control of Financial Activities) sent a report on money transactions in David Miranda’s accounts to the Rio de Janeiro Prosecutor’s Office.

The atypical transactions alone do not configure a crime – that only occurs when the source of the money is illegal.

The text states that the action occurred two days after The Intercept began to disclose messages exchanged by the task force of Operation Lava Jato in Curitiba.

Greenwald, the editor of the website, was attacked after disclosing conversations (also published by other media outlets, such as Folha) that raised suspicions over the conduct of prosecutors and former judge Sérgio Moro.

In July, ABRAJI had defended Greenwald by rejecting President Jair Bolsonaro’s remarks that the journalist, who is an American, could “get jail time in Brazil”.

On social media, Greenwald tried to justify his comments on the Globo report and said that journalists are not immune to criticism for the work they do.

“It is legitimate for everyone in the public sphere who exercises power to have their actions criticized. This includes journalists. Conflicting journalists’ criticism with attacks on the free press makes it much more difficult to defend real attacks on the free press”.

Sought for comment by Folha, ‘O Globo’ reported that it will not comment.

Source: Folha de S.Paulo