Brasilia, January 22 (RHC)-- Brazil's Public Ministry (MPF) has charged journalist Glenn Greenwald of being part of a group of cyber-criminals who intercepted phone calls of Justice Minister Sergio Moro when he was the judge handling Brazil's biggest-ever corruption case.

In Operation Spoofing, which is the name used by the MPF authorities to designate the actions against Greenwald, it is argued that this U.S. journalist and his colleagues made 126 call interceptions and 176 invasions to computer devices.

The Intercept Brasil published a note criticizing the Prosecutor's action and stressing that the accusation represents an attack on freedom of expression.  “In this action, we see an attempt to criminalize not only our work but all Brazilian journalism. There is no democracy without critical and free journalism. Brazilian society cannot accept abuses of power like this,” The Intercept Brasil warned.

In 2019, this independent virtual journal and its editor, Glenn Greenwald, leaked conversations in which Judge Moro advised Car Wash prosecutors in the case against former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Workers' Party (PT) leader.

Greenwald has said that the Car Wash investigators' conversations were leaked to The Intercept after they had been hacked.  Nevertheless, Brazilian prosecutors said that audio found on a seized laptop showed Greenwald advising a hacker to erase all messages linked to The Intercept.

Regarding the prosecutor’s accusations, the U.S. journalist indicated that those are just a form of intimidation against the critical voices of Brazil.  "We'll not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence journalists," Greenwald said and added that far-right Jair Bolsonaro's administration does not respect basic press freedoms.​​​​​​​

"I did nothing more than doing my job as a journalist - ethically and within the law," said the Intercept Brasil's editor, who became known internationally for his role in the publication of Edward Snowden's documents leaked in 2013.​​​​​​​