Supreme Court Justice Demands Hacked Messages be Delivered Within 48 Hours

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Hours after Federal Supreme Court (STF) justice Luiz Fux granted a preliminary injunction ordering the conservation of the messages seized by the hackers arrested in Operation Spoofing, on July 23rd, another justice of the Court, Alexandre de Moraes, requisitioned on Thursday night, August 1st, the complete material seized by the Federal Police (PF).

“Given the news reports pointing to evidence of illegal investigation against justices of this court [STF], may a request be sent to the 10th Federal Criminal Court of Brasília for a complete copy of the investigation and of all seized material in the operation,” instructed Moraes. The information is from the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.

This Thursday’s decision occurred in the context of an inquiry opened in March to investigate fake news and threats against members of the Court. The inquiry was also extended for 180 days.

Last week, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Sérgio Moro, head of the Federal Police and himself hacked, advised some officials who had also been affected by the cell phone hacking that messages, “obtained illicitly,” would be destroyed.

The announcement triggered several reactions from jurists and even STF justices, who considered that it would never be up to a minister to decide on the disposal of this material. It would only be up to the courts to assess the fate of material seized in the police operation, which could become evidence in a criminal trial.

Fux granted a petition from the PDT Party to forbid the disposal of messages. The decision still needs to go through a Federal Supreme Court plenary vote, with all eleven justices.

“There is a well-founded concern that the dispersal of evidence may thwart the efficiency of judicial performance, in contradiction to the fundamental principles of the Constitution, such as the rule of law and legal certainty. In addition, the establishment of this Court’s full conviction as to the lawfulness of the means for obtaining such evidence requires the proper assessment of its entire set,” wrote the magistrate.