Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has dismissed a top official in the country’s intelligence agency amid an investigation of suspected illegal spying involving the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The firing of Alessandro Moretti as deputy director of the agency, known by its Portuguese acronym ABIN, came a day after police raided property linked to Carlos Bolsonaro, a Rio de Janeiro city councilman.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the warrants for raids on Carlos Bolsonaro’s home and office based on allegations by federal police of the existence of a group inside ABIN that spied on Jair Bolsonaro’s opponents during his four-year presidency, which ended in 2022.
Investigators suspect Alexandre Ramagem, who ran ABIN under Bolsonaro, used software known as FirstMile developed by an Israeli company to monitor politicians and public figures. Police raided Ramagem’s office and home last week.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
