The 1st Criminal Panel of the Federal District Court of Justice denied Walter Delgatti Neto’s appeal against his conviction for defamation involving former president Jair Bolsonaro. The decision maintains the sentence of 10 months and 20 days in semi-open prison, in addition to the payment of a fine.
Known as the “leak jet” hacker, Delgatti, who has been detained since August 2023, had accused Bolsonaro of involvement in illegal telephone interception. In testimony to the Joint Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPMI) on Anti-Democratic Acts, Delgatti stated that Bolsonaro told him about an alleged wiretap in conversations with the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, and had asked him to assume authorship of the act.
The case’s rapporteur, judge Leila Cristina Garbin Arlanch, highlighted that Delgatti did not present evidence to support his version and mentioned that he deleted messages exchanged with federal deputy Carla Zambelli, which, for the judge, compromises the credibility of the testimony.
According to the judge, Delgatti’s statements had great repercussion because they were made during a CPMI broadcast live, with wide visibility.
The judgment also reaffirmed that Delgatti must serve the initial sentence in a semi-open regime, justifying the decision by the unfavorable judicial circumstances and the history of recidivism.
Delgatti is being investigated in other cases involving possible threats to minister Alexandre de Moraes and is accused of, together with Zambelli, entering false data into the National Justice Council (CNJ) system, including creating a forged arrest warrant against the minister of STF. Zambelli and Delgatti were interviewed by the Federal Police on October 7th about the case.
