Brazil judge upholds injunction prohibiting investigation into journalist Glenn Greenwald News
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Brazil judge upholds injunction prohibiting investigation into journalist Glenn Greenwald

Brasilia-based Judge Ricardo Leite rejected a motion to proceed with cybercrime charges against American journalist Glenn Greenwald on Thursday. 

In his decision, Leite invoked an earlier injunction granted by Judge Gilmar Mendes in the Supreme Court that prohibited investigations into Greenwald. Mendes cited constitutional freedoms of press and expression, as well as invoked the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

Greenwald is the co-founder and editor of an online news organization called The Intercept. Prosecutors charged Greenwald of criminal misconduct of his reporting on Operation Car Wash, an anti-corruption investigation. Prosecutors believe that Greenwald used the help of hackers to publish private conversations on WhatsApp between judges and prosecutors. In addition, Operation Car Wash also investigated high-profile companies and former presidents. As a result, the reports revealed misconduct within the Brazilian justice system.

Greenwald is in an “attorney-turned-journalist” who currently lives with his husband and kids in Rio de Janeiro. Greenwald said of the decision,

The rejection is based on the fact that the Supreme Court already issued an injunction against attempts of official persecution against me. This is not enough. We seek a decisive rejection from the Supreme Court of this abusive prosecution on the grounds that it is a clear and grave assault on core press freedoms. Anything less would leave open the possibility of further erosion of the fundamental freedom of the press against other journalists.

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