More than three months before authorizing the arrest of Filipe Martins for a U.S. trip allegedly taken on December 30, 2022, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes already had geolocation data showing the former Presidential Advisor for International Affairs was in Brazil that day.
According to the Federal Police (PF) investigation, Martins boarded a flight to Orlando, Florida, as part of then-President Jair Bolsonaro’s entourage. This allegation was later used to the claim that Martins was trying to flee justice amidst an investigation into a supposed coup attempt. In a report indicting suspects in what they called a “coup plot,” the PF even contradicted itself regarding Martins’ trip.
Since the former advisor’s arrest, his legal team has been compiling a series of evidence that directly challenges the PF’s conclusions.
With the declassification of lieutenant colonel Mauro Cid’s collaboration and other related documents, it’s now possible to see that Justice Moraes had documents from TIM (a phone company) and Uber since October 2023. Last July, Oeste magazine exposed the receipts obtained by the defense. Yet, according to Justice Moraes’ own decisions, he had requested this information months earlier.
Moraes’ Orders Regarding Filipe Martins
On October 24, 2023, Moraes issued orders to the phone company and the ride-hailing app to obtain Martins’ whereabouts by demanding “the removal of confidentiality from Radio Base Station (ERB) data, calls, data connections, and portability history of the phone terminals, as well as the removal of telematic confidentiality from geolocation data” of the former advisor and other individuals under investigation.
Four days later, on October 30, 2023, the Justice wrote: “The PF, to the plausibility of the information provided, requested the removal of confidentiality from ERB data, calls, data connections, and portability history of the phone terminals of Amauri Feres Saad, Filipe Garcia Martins Pereira, and José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva, as well as the provision of their phone records, related to the period from June 1, 2022, to October 3, 2023. In a decision on October 24, 2023, I granted the requests made by the police authority, endorsed by the Prosecutor General’s Office.”
Martins’ defense team has been appealing to international organizations, denouncing human rights violations in this case, arguing that the deprivation of freedom has been instrumentalized for political purposes.
The Supreme Court’s Stance
When ed by Oeste, the Justice’s office did not comment on why Martins was ordered to be arrested based on the alleged trip to the U.S., if they had data on his location in Brazil since October, three months prior. Regardless, Oeste welcomes a statement from Justice Moraes or his office at any time he sees fit.
Leia também: “A farsa do golpe”, reportagem publicada na Edição 257 da Revista Oeste
