JOSÉ MARQUESBRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - A Federal Police report sent to minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), says it is not possible to state that the payment of R$100,000 to journalist Luís Pablo Conceição Almeida was made to publish negative reports against minister Flávio Dino.
PF says it is not possible to say that a journalist received payment for reporting against Dino
JOSÉ MARQUESBRASÍLIA, DF (FOLHAPRESS) - A Federal Police report sent to minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), says it is not possible to state that the payment of R$100,000 to journalist Luís Pablo Conceição...
"Based on what has been analyzed, it is not possible to point out with maximum certainty that the amount in question is a payment intended for journalistic materials or receipt linked to matters of this nature. What remains from the analysis is the need for further analysis of the available media, as well as time to delve deeper into it", states the report,...
- The document says that, until that moment, it was possible to conclude that there was "a political tendency on the part of the journalist".
- In July, another PF analysis showed that the payment was made by an informant of the journalist to a third party and used to pay off the journalist's property.
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The document, signed in May by a PF agent, analyzes the contents of Luís Pablo's cell phone, which had been seized in March on Moraes' orders, and suggests the need for further evaluation of the device's contents.
"Based on what has been analyzed, it is not possible to point out with maximum certainty that the amount in question is a payment intended for journalistic materials or receipt linked to matters of this nature. What remains from the analysis is the need for further analysis of the available media, as well as time to delve deeper into it", states the report, which is confidential. The document says that, until that moment, it was possible to conclude that there was "a political tendency on the part of the journalist".
In July, another PF analysis showed that the payment was made by an informant of the journalist to a third party and used to pay off the journalist's property.
In the same month, the delegate responsible for the case, Antonio Knoll, said that this payment placed "under suspicion the merely informative aspect and the legitimacy of the use of a vehicle supposedly of a journalistic nature" and asked Moraes to search and seize the journalist's informants. He ruled out, however, that there was a crime of breach of functional secrecy by Luís Pablo in his publications.
"It should be noted here that it is not a question of accusing the journalist of committing such a crime, since the same, in theory, is covered by the right to freedom of the press, widely recognized in our courts. The conduct of a possible public agent who accesses restricted data and discloses it irregularly for publication through a press vehicle, however, can be classified as a crime", stated the delegate.
With the approval of the PGR (Attorney General's Office), Moraes ordered the search and seizure carried out on the 11th. One of the targets was Raimundo Cutrim, who commanded the Secretariat of Legislative Affairs of the Government of Maranhão, commanded by Carlos Brandão (MDB). Brandão is broken with Dino's former political group, who was governor of the state from 2015 to 2022.
Another search target was lawyer Diogo Diniz Lima, former secretary of Urban Planning and Housing at São Luís City Hall, who is also an informant for Luís Pablo. Diogo was responsible for paying R$100,000 to a third party to pay off the journalist's property.
Luís Pablo says that the payment has nothing to do with the reports. "There is no connection whatsoever between the acquisition of the property and the reports. This accusation is untrue, it is unfounded. The acquisition of the property was through a loan that the lawyer made to me, he is a personal friend of mine. I didn't receive any money from the lawyer to publish the reports", he said, in an interview with Folha last week.
Cutrim's defense has said that Moraes' decision caused "strangeness and concern" and denies irregularities. The report did not locate Diogo's defense.
The search and seizure on the 11th aimed to access cell phones, computers, storage media, physical and digital documents, as well as data found on devices, including banking, tax, telephone and telematic devices.
Luís Pablo has been publishing texts since 2011 on his blog, presented as "independent journalism that bothers power". The reasons for the actions against him are texts that pointed out the alleged use of cars belonging to the TJ-MA (Maranhão Court of Justice) and the state government by Dino.
Both Dino and TJ-MA have denied irregularities. They state that security vehicles are used by the STF, in collaboration with the courts, based on rules from the court and the CNJ (National Council of Justice).
The PF concluded that Cutrim obtained information on the topic from restricted access systems and passed it on to the production of the texts.
Abert (Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters), ANJ (National Association of Newspapers) and Aner (National Association of Magazine Editors) expressed "deep concern" with Moraes' measure given the risks to press freedom.
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