Judge clears Greenwald of hacking accusation
A judge in Brazil’s capital yesterday dismissed accusations that journalist Glenn Greenwald was involved in hacking phones of officials, following weeks of criticism that his prosecution would infringe on constitutional protections for the press.
Prosecutors last month levelled accusations that Greenwald helped a group of six people hack into phones of hundreds of local authorities, saying his actions amounted to criminal association and illegal interception of communications.
Since last year, Greenwald’s online media outlet The Intercept Brasil has published a series of excerpts from private conversations on a messaging app involving current Justice Minister Sergio Moro.
The attempt by prosecutors to criminalise Greenwald’s work had prompted swift backlash from national and foreign journalist associations, freedom of expression advocates and Brazil’s national bar association. Those groups said prosecutors were abusing their power to persecute Greenwald, an attorney-turned-journalist who lives with his husband and children in Rio de Janeiro. Greenwald’s lawyers called the allegations ‘‘bizarre’’ and said they challenged a previous ruling in the case by the Brazilian Supreme Court protecting freedom of the press.
Yesterday’s decision by the Brasilia-based judge, Ricardo Leite, invoked that earlier ruling by Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes, who barred investigations of Greenwald and The Intercept Brasil in relation to the alleged hacking. While rejecting the claims regarding Greenwald, Leite accepted those against the six alleged hackers, who will now face charges as defendants. –AP