Brazilian lawmaker Alexandre Ramagem, the head of Brazil’s intelligence services under Jair Bolsonaro, appeared before police on Wednesday to testify as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal spying on prominent politicians and others.
Ramagem, a candidate for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in October’s municipal elections, arrived at federal police headquarters in the southeastern Brazilian city shortly before 3:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) without saying a word, police said.
Investigators suspect that during the term of the former far-right president (2019-2022), a “criminal organization” was formed within the Brazilian intelligence agency (ABIN) to monitor important political figures, judges of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) – the Supreme Court – and even journalists.
Ramagem was a trusted Bolsonaro man, and ran Abin from July 2019 to March 2022.
Last January, the lawmaker faced raids in this case.
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On July 11, a new police operation as part of this investigation resulted in the arrest of five suspects, including a soldier, a federal police officer and a digital influencer.
According to the STF judge in charge of the case, Alexandre de Moraes – one of the people who were illegally monitored, according to investigators – the “organization infiltrated Abyan” had the goal of “obtaining political advantages, producing disinformation, attacking political opponents…) and destabilizing republican institutions.”
But the former intelligence chief maintains his innocence. In a social media post last week,
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Ramagem was particularly exposed on Monday when the STF published an audio recording he made in August 2020 during a meeting with two lawyers and Jair Bolsonaro in which they discussed ways to resolve the legal problems of the then-president’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian press confirmed that Bolsonaro would have been “furious” when he learned that this had been recorded without his knowledge.
But Ramagem insisted that the recording was made with the “approval” of the far-right leader.
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Bolsonaro, who has been disqualified from running until 2030, has not been directly involved in the investigation into allegations of illegal spying, although he is the subject of several other judicial investigations.
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