Breno Altman made publications considered offensive by the courts; press professionals criticize decision
The journalist, founder of the portal said in X this Sunday (October 12, 2025) that he was denounced by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) for anti-Semitism and other crimes against Jews. The decision was taken by prosecutor Maurício Fabretti after a criminal report filed by the (Israeli Confederation of Brazil). The journalist’s lawyers and press professionals claim that the decision goes against freedom of expression.
In November 2023, Conib presented criminal news that Altman made racist, insulting and discriminatory posts. At the time, the São Paulo Court of Justice responded to the request for content removal. The Federal Police (PF) opened an investigation, but found no crime. Fabretti, however, continued with the complaint.
In it, the prosecutor cites 15 publications made by the journalist from October 7, 2023 to February 1, 2025. In one of them, Altman said: “We may dislike Hamas, disagreeing with its policies and methods. But this organization is a decisive part of Palestine’s resistance against the colonial state and Israel. Remembering the Chinese saying, at this moment it doesn’t matter what color cats are, as long as they hunt mice.”.
In response to an internet user, the journalist said that he is Jewish: “Who is talking about Jews, if I am Jewish?”.
In one of the defense petitions, the lawyers stated that the journalist’s demonstrations “they do not incite hatred or promote discrimination, they only denounce state violence and affirm universal values of humanity”.
According to the text sent to the 10th Federal Criminal Court of São Paulo, criticizing the Israeli government is not attacking the Jewish people. The defense requested that the judge outright reject the complaint from the Federal Public Ministry.
“The complaint filed against journalist Breno Altman does not just represent a legal mistake, but the clear manifestation of how criminal law can be used to silence dissent and pursue critical thinking”says the text. “They are legitimate political criticisms, directed at the Israeli government and its policy of extermination in the Gaza Strip, formulated in the context of public debate on facts of obvious international interest.”
The war between Israel and Hamas has already ended in the Gaza Strip until this Sunday (October 12, 2025). Around 170,000 were injured. The data are from (state broadcaster of the Qatari monarchy) and could not be independently verified. Altman has spoken out in favor of the Palestinian people since tensions in the region increased.
CONIB CRITICISM
Conib said that freedom of expression is a guaranteed right in Brazil, but “Spreading hate speech is a crime”.
Lawyer Daniel Leon Bialski, advisor to the presidency of Conib, said on Friday (October 10, 2025) that they are “unacceptable and inadmissible” offenses made by one of Altman’s lawyers to attorney Fabretti.
“Pathetically, as always, an attempt is being made to distort the truth, seeking to mask the hate speech and racism practiced by this accused who, rightly, has now been criminally charged for his multiple anti-Semitic acts, with the expectation that in the future, he will be convicted for all the crimes committed”he declared.
ABI AND CNDH SPEAKED UP
The (Brazilian Press Association), in 2023, that Altman was being censored. “Being against the racist and colonial policy practiced by a government should not and cannot be considered as an act of disrespect towards a religion or a certain people. In this case, racism has been practiced by the Netanyahu government, which has been condemned even by Jews in different parts of the world. Not just Altman”said the association in a statement.
This Sunday (October 12, 2025), the journalist declared that Conib is “the camouflaged agency of a foreign state, whose objective is to maintain a regime of apartheid and colonialism”. He also said that the entity operates the Israeli lobby within Brazil and deserves to be “investigated, processed and dismantled”.
He further stated that the complaint from the Federal Public Ministry is “further proof of the links between Zionism and fascism, to silence voices that rise up against the Palestinian genocide”.
The CNDH (National Human Rights Council) has already criticized Conib for against the journalist. It states that Conib’s attitudes represent a threat to the free press and freedom of expression. The council says it is concerned about the increase in cases in which judicial mechanisms are activated against journalists.
The Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, as Conib “pursue” Altman.
REACTION FROM JOURNALISTS
Journalist Glenn Greenwald, in X, this Sunday (October 12, 2025) that the left “they will never learn that if they demand and build a censorship regime, one day it will be used against them”.
And he added: “Anti-Zionist Jewish journalist @brealt is accused by the MPF of ‘racism’ against Jews for criticizing Israel. This is the theory and tactics of the left. Congratulations.👍”.
According to Roberta Bastos, prosecutor Fabretti’s complaint “ignores” that criticism of the State of Israel and Zionism “are not the same thing as attacks on the Jewish people”.
For her, there is a deliberate confusion that has been used by political and religious sectors “to silence” who denounces war crimes, occupation and human rights violations.
“The Public Ministry is criminalizing critical thinking and transforming political debate into a police case. […] The case sets a dangerous precedent. If criticizing foreign governments and denouncing massacres becomes a crime, freedom of expression ceases to be a right and becomes a privilege granted to those who say what power wants to hear”, said Bastos.
Journalists contested the complaint sent to prosecutor Maurício Fabretti, from the MPF. The letter in solidarity with Breno Altman had 428 signatures by 6pm on Sunday (Oct 12, 2025). The text is signed by journalists Juca Kfouri, Afonso Borges, Antonio Grassi and Alessandra Roscoe.
Read the full text:
“Dear Mr. Maurício Fabretti, from the MPF
“We, the undersigned, protest against your complaint regarding journalist Breno Altman for using a well-known metaphor that means exactly what metaphors mean.
“Reporting him, unlike what the Federal Police did when considering Conib’s complaint unreasonable, violates not only freedom of the press but also freedom of expression.
“You don’t have to agree with Altman to realize that by using the Chinese metaphor “it doesn’t matter what color the cat is, it matters whether it eats the mouse”, he did not equate all Zionists with the small animal.
“If I had written the same thing about the Nazis, would I have also been denounced for racism?
“Or does the fact that he, a Jew, considers the Zionists responsible for the genocide in Palestine to be equivalent to rats makes him a racist or terrorist?
“If, say, the metaphor was that of lions and tigers, eagles and hawks, would there be the same complaint?
“Unsatisfied, we asked for the complaint to be withdrawn and, if not met, we informed that we subscribed to what Altman wrote.”
