Brasilia, March 16.- Brazil’s Ministry of State launched a preliminary investigation into a secret system bought by the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) during Jair Bolsonaro’s government to monitor the whereabouts of citizens via their mobile phones.
In a note collected from the press, prosecutor Peterson de Paula Pereira stated that “the alleged illegal use of a system capable of monitoring an individual’s whereabouts via ABIN’s mobile phone number is being investigated.”
This decision was taken after the newspaper O Globo revealed that during the first three years of the far-right’s mandate, ABIN used this program, which allowed, without official protocol, to control the movements of up to ten thousand people every 12 months.
ABIN confirmed in a note, which was also picked up by the press, that the use of the software began on December 26, 2018 during the government of Michel Temer and ended on May 8, 2021.
“The technological solution in question has not been used at ABIN since then. The agency is currently in the process of refining and reviewing its internal regulations, in line with public interests and the commitment to the democratic rule of law,” he assured.
The agency’s new administration required a report on all individuals under surveillance and recommended the resignation of the agents involved.
On the other hand, the federal deputy and then head of the agency, Alexandre Ramagem, wrote in the networks that the program did not represent any irregularities.
“In 2019, when we took ownership of the organization, we formally reviewed the legal support of all contracts. For this tool, we have established specific fixes to confirm its regular use within the law by its administrators, in compliance with transparency and austerity measures,” he claimed.
For its part, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised to investigate and punish those responsible for using the tool.
The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, confirmed this Wednesday that the federal police will investigate the use of the program.
“I will ask federal police to open an investigation into this complaint about ABIN because we had evidence of device misuse,” he said.
This month, Lula decreed that ABIN, previously integrated into the only ministry commanded by a military, be transferred to the Civil House ministry.
The measure aims to demilitarize the intelligence services and comes almost two months after the violent attacks by Bolsonaro radicals on the three powers headquarters in Brasilia on January 8.
After the attacks, Lula publicly expressed his suspicions and accused Abin, who was highly militarized during the Bolsonaro government, and the ministry to which she belonged, the Institutional Security Cabinet (GSI), of neglect.
The president appointed former federal police chief Luiz Fernando Correa as the agency’s new boss. (Text and photo: RT)