Maranhão blogger Luís Pablo Conceição Almeida, investigated for the crime of persecuting the minister, by the (Supreme Federal Court), decided to remain silent in a hearing with the Federal Police this Friday (13).
Luís Pablo’s defense told the PF that it understands the hearing and pointed out the right to confidentiality of the journalistic source.
At the end of last year, Luís Pablo published on his website a text about an official car from the Maranhão Court of Justice that was being used irregularly, for private purposes, by Dino’s family. Two other articles on the subject were published subsequently.
This Tuesday (10), by order of the STF minister, the blogger went to his home. The PF took two cell phones, a HD and a MacBook. He said he did not know, until then, that he was the target of an investigation.
The case, which is being processed under secrecy, was distributed to Moraes in connection with the investigation of attacks on the STF carried out by allies of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Wanted by Sheet This Thursday (12), Dino stated in a note that he had been alerted about “illegal monitoring of his movements in São Luís”, and that this led to the opening of the investigation procedure against Luís Pablo.
He also cited the publication, made by the blog, of “plates of vehicles used by the minister, number of agents and names of security agents and other details”.
In the texts published by Luís Pablo, he states that the minister at the time was contacted by the blog and had no response.
The search and seizure warrant at the blogger’s home received criticism from entities. In a statement, Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism) repudiated Moraes’ decision, highlighting that “invasive measures against journalists must be extremely exceptional and duly substantiated”.
“In a democracy, it is healthy to demand transparency regarding the possible irregular use of public resources, and no journalistic investigation of this nature can be criminalized without clear material evidence”, says an excerpt from the note.
The entity also highlights that the journalist would have the right to publish the information even if it were confidential, if there was public interest.
Luís Pablo’s Blog has existed since 2011. According to the author, it is one of the independent vehicles with the largest audience in Maranhão, operating in political and investigative coverage.
Luís Pablo states that he maintains it mainly through advertising, with banner spaces for advertisements and institutional advertising.
In 2020, the blogger was denounced by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) for crimes such as extortion and criminal organization, in the wake of Operation Turing, launched by the PF in 2017.
At the time, the PF said that a federal police officer was suspected of revealing investigations under judicial secrecy to bloggers, who charged money from those being investigated for not publishing the information. Luís Pablo denies the accusation and points out that the case has not yet been judged.
“I was the target of an investigation for publishing information about PF operations and they wanted to know who the agent was who was passing on the information. They investigated other bloggers and intercepted possible extortion practices. In relation to me, there was nothing to prove it,” he told the report.
The case is being processed in the 2nd Criminal Court of the Federal Court in Maranhão.
