Ex-Brazilian President Bolsonaro’s Intel Chief Raided Over Illegal Spying Claims

Bolsonaro’s rhetoric praising the country’s former military dictatorship raised concerns about the ex-army captain’s commitment to civil liberties throughout his presidency.

Brazilian police conducted a raid on the home and offices of Alexandre Ramagem Thursday after accusations that the former intelligence chief engaged in illegal spying for controversial ex-President Jair Bolsonaro.

The investigation seeks to determine whether Ramagem improperly used surveillance software belonging to Brazil’s intelligence agency (ABIN) for political gain for the ex-president and his allies.

“Federal police have identified the existence of a criminal organization set up to illegally monitor individuals and public authorities... without judicial authorization,” read a statement from Brazil’s Supreme Court, which authorized the police action.

“Investigations indicate a criminal group created a parallel structure within ABIN and used its tools and services for illicit acts, producing information for political and media purposes, for personal gain and to interfere in federal police investigations,” read a simultaneous statement from police.

Ramagem currently represents Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party in the Brazilian Congress and is running to be mayor of Rio de Janeiro in elections later this year. Eleven other suspects were targeted in addition to the former intel chief in raids conducted in Rio, the southern state of Minas Gerais, and Brazil’s capital Brasilia.

The suspects are accused of improperly using the Israeli surveillance software FirstMile to track the cell phone geolocation data of hundreds of Bolsonaro’s perceived enemies. Investigators allege Ramagem and others spied on some 1,800 politicians and judges, including Supreme Court justice and electoral court head Alexandre de Moraes.

De Moraes authorized the raid on Thursday; the justice has been consistently embroiled in disputes with Bolsonaro and his supporters after the former president alleged electoral fraud in the 2022 elections that saw Bolsonaro removed from the presidency.

Bolsonaro’s allies have claimed the investigation and raids are an exercise in political persecution.

“To be clear, this tool is legal within ABIN, its use is legal. It was sold to various institutions in Brazil, including at the state level. Why are we being investigated?” asked Ramagem on a Brazilian television news program.

Israeli tech companies like Cognyte, which sells the FirstMile application, are often criticized for creating invasive surveillance software that critics claim is abused by authoritarian governments to spy on activists and journalists. Currently, smartphone maker Apple is engaged in a lawsuit against the Israel-based NSO Group which produces the infamous Pegasus software. A judge recently determined Apple’s lawsuit against the company can move forward in the United States.