In an open letter today, more than 40 press freedom and civil liberties groups strongly condemned the “cybercrime” charges against Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald and demanded that Brazilian authorities renounce them immediately.
The letter was organized by Freedom of the Press Foundation and Reporters Without Borders, and it includes prominent members of the human rights, civil liberties, and press freedom organizations from Brazil and around the world. Committee to Protect Journalists, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many others have joined in protesting the Brazilian government’s outrageous actions.
“These charges represent a straightforward attempt to intimidate and retaliate against Greenwald and The Intercept Brasil for their critical reporting,” the coalition states. The implications of Brazil’s actions reach far beyond Greenwald and other journalists at The Intercept Brasil as well. The threat to the free press of Brazil, including domestic and international media, is profound:
These charges await approval from a federal judge, giving the courts the opportunity to reject them and protect freedom of the press. Even so, the chilling effect of such legal intimidation remains. If these tactics are allowed to stand, it would jeopardize all Brazilians’ freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to participate in democracy.
The full letter, in both English and Portuguese, has been sent directly to Brazil’s top public officials, and is embedded below.
