Brazil: Supreme Court initiates probe against President Bolsonaro over investigation leak

Brazil's top court on Thursday opened a probe into President Jair Bolsonaro in connection to him posting documents from a sealed police investigation into the hacking of a federal election court, on social media. The development comes after judges on the electoral court had urged for an inquiry into the matter a few days ago.

Additionally, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre Moraes ruled that the police officer leading the inquiry be dismissed and Bolsonaro's posts removed from social media immediately. Bolsonaro had posted the documents last week while continuously alleging that the election system is open to fraud. However, the Brazilian president is yet to present proof to substantiate the allegations made by him and the police investigation documents on the Superior Electoral Court hack are from months before the 2018 election.  

Bolsonaro asks for investigation to be made public

Speaking at his weekly online live broadcast, President Bolsonaro asked for the classified investigation to be made public saying that the matter interests everyone and that it could not be sealed for long. The Brazilian president added that removing documents from social media would not matter much as they have already been widely circulated.

Claiming hackers had gained access to the voting machines' source code, which could be used to tamper with the vote, Bolsonaro accused the court of hiding the attack and termed the investigation unconstitutional.

The electoral court, however, claimed that the hack had not affected elections in 2018, saying that the police had not found any risk of fraud in the voting system. 

Congress defeats Bolsonaro's campaign to adopt paper record of each vote

Earlier this week, the Brazilian president received another blow to his already weakened political position after Congress defeated his campaign to adopt a paper record of each vote.  

It is pertinent to mention here that Bolsonaro, who opinion polls say is trailing behind former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his 2022 re-election bid, has allegedly undertaken a crusade to discredit the nation’s electronic voting system and authorities who defend its authenticity. Bolsonaro, this week, repeatedly launched a blistering attack on Luis Roberto Barroso, who is both a Supreme Court judge and the electoral court’s president.

(Image: AP)