More than 200 women have accused Brazil’s most famous medium and spiritual healer of sexual abuse in a case that is becoming the country’s first major post-#MeToo scandal.

João Teixeira de Faria, 76, known as João de Deus, or John of God, has attended Brazilian presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer, pop stars and celebrities. But in television interviews broadcast on Friday, five women alleged sexual abuse – and then the floodgates opened, and prosecutors have now received more than 200 complaints.

Patrícia Otoni, one of five prosecutors on a taskforce established on Monday in the state of Goiás, where the alleged abuses took place, said some of the allegations “are over 10 years old” but that others were “more current”.

Another prosecutor, Luciano Miranda, told Brazilian TV that potential crimes included rape and sexual abuse.

De Faria denies the charges and a spokesman said he was being tried by the media in an atmosphere of hysteria.

Since 1976, De Faria has performed healing ceremonies and “spiritual surgeries” at the Dom Inácio de Loyola house in Abidiânia, a town of 15,000 people 100km from the capital, Brasília.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors come each year, including some of the most famous actors – mediums, healers and spiritualists are revered in Brazil, a country teeming with religions.

In 2012, De Faria was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. While the attendance is free, he often prescribes “medicines” sold in the same centre, which accepts donations.

In allegations so far reported in Brazilian media, women claimed De Faria took them into a private room then abused them.

Dutch choreographer Zahira Lieneke Mous, 34, first revealed the abuse she alleged had happened four years ago on Facebook. Last Friday she described it to TV Globo’s Pedro Bial on his chatshow, which also broadcast interviews with three other women whose identities were hidden.

Mous claimed she had gone to De Faria looking to cure a sexual trauma and was taken into a private room and made to masturbate him. Afterwards, she said she was given a gemstone. She said she returned to the house and was given special privileges. On another occasion, she alleged De Faria raped her. She said she hesitated in coming forward out of fear. “We don’t have to feel ashamed. He needs to feel ashamed,” she said.

On the same show, American “spiritual guide” Amy Biank, who took groups of foreign visitors to see Abidiânia in the early 2000s, claimed she had entered a room where a kneeling woman was being forced to perform oral sex on De Faria. After she reported what she had seen to employees, she received death threats, she said.

Mário Rosa, a spokesman for De Faria, said he denied the accusations and there should have been an investigation before allegations were broadcast on primetime television.

“We declare his innocence. We respect the right of the women to make these testimonies, but we do not recognise these testimonies as true,” he said.

André Pacheco, 42, a Rio businessman on his seventh visit to Abidiânia since De Faria cured a depression, said that buses of people were still arriving at the centre.

“I have not met anyone in the city who has pointed the finger and said, he is guilty,” he said. “Mr João is a very powerful medium.”

On Wednesday De Faria appeared at the Dom Inácio de Loyola house, where a queue of expectant visitors awaited him along with a melee of reporters. He said he was innocent, local media reported, and stayed just 10 minutes. </s> BRASILIA (Reuters) - Police are investigating accusations by over 200 women that a self-proclaimed Brazilian faith healer, who became a celebrity after appearing on a show hosted by Oprah Winfrey, sexually abused them while they were seeking spiritual guidance and treatment.

A follower of Brazilian spiritual healer Joao Teixeira de Faria, known as "John of God", is seen at "healing center" in his spiritual center, in Abadiania, Brazil December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Prosecutors have requested the arrest of João Teixeira de Faria, known as “John of God”, from a court in Abadiania, a small town in central Brazil where he has his spiritual center, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Since the first accusation was aired on television on Friday, 258 women - some of them foreigners - have come forward accusing Faria of abuses, according to the prosecutors’ office for the state of Goias where Abadiania is located.

Faria, who became internationally famous when Winfrey broadcast a report on his psychic healing methods in 2013, maintained on Wednesday that he is innocent, in his first comments since the scandal began. He denied the accusations and said he would comply with the law.

The first accusation was made on a TV Globo program on Friday by Dutch choreographer Zahira Maus who said Faria sexually assaulted her. Globo TV spent three months investigating the story and interviewed a dozen other women who said they had been abused by the healer.

Faria’s fame has been boosted by supposedly miraculous surgeries he claims to have performed with his hands and without anesthesia.

Winfrey said in a statement that she visited Faria’s center in 2012 to explore his controversial healing methods for an episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” that aired the following year, she said.

“I empathize with the women now coming forward and hope justice is served,” she said.

The scandal has shocked the town of Abadiania, whose economy has become dependent on the tourism brought by Faria’s healing center, which opened in 1976. Thousands of Brazilians and foreigners flocked there but the industry has now come to a halt.

Some followers of Faria have rejected the accusations and harassed reporters who descended on the town on Wednesday for the first public appearance of the healer since the scandal broke, receiving him with loud cheers and applause.

“Brothers and my dear sisters, I thank God for being here. I want to comply with Brazilian law. I am in the hands of the law,” he told them in a brief appearance. “John of God is still alive,” he said. </s> A pediatrician at a prestigious children's hospital in Argentina has been detained by authorities in Buenos Aires after being accused of producing and distributing child pornography.

They said that the doctor, identified in Argentine media as Ricardo Russo, 55, drew the attention of law enforcement agencies from various countries, including U.S. Homeland Security, who were conducting an investigation into a child pornography ring.

Investigators at Homeland Security and Brazilian police contacted Argentine officials to inform them that images and videos of children seemed to be coming from their country.

The Security Ministry said in a statement that police detained the doctor Tuesday at the Juan P. Garrahan children's hospital in Buenos Aires.

ARGENTINA LAWMAKER FIGHTS FOR LIFE AFTER SHOOTING

The doctor is accused of producing and distributing child pornography, including images of 6-month-old babies taken at the hospital.

Authorities said he works as head of the Garrahan hospital's immunology and rheumatology department. He could not be reached for comment despite calls to the hospital, the security ministry and other officials.

His LinkedIn page lists past places of employment as the University of Texas Southwestern/Dallas Children´s Hospital and at the University of Toronto/Hospital for Sick Kids from 1990 to 1992.

The Argentine hospital said he had been removed from his post.

A specialized prosecutor's unit in charge of the investigation said they found "photos and videos of minors between six months and 14 years of age engaged in explicit sexual activities" on two computers owned by the doctor.

HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS CAN LINGER AFTER CHILD ABUSE

Authorities said they seized computers and other equipment when they raided dozens of homes, including the doctor's. So far, he is the only one who has been detained although officials said they expected to detain others in the case.

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"We got a report and carried out raids where we seized computers and flash drives," said the Buenos Aires city justice secretary, Marcelo D'Alessandro. "And we found convincing evidence that the children were being abused."

"We have no doubt about his guilt," D'Alessandro asserted, according to La Nacion. "At the city police department we feel satisfaction over having this monster off the street."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> (CNN) — The highest ranking Catholic official to be convicted of covering up sex abuse has been spared prison and sentenced to six months’ home detention in Australia, due to his ailing health and age.

The Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson was found guilty in May of concealing the abuse of altar boys in the 1970s by pedophile priest James Fletcher.

Wilson, 67, who stepped aside from his role after his conviction but has not yet resigned, had been facing a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

It is a landmark conviction that could have far-reaching implications for other clergy members as the child sexual abuse scandal continues to hit the Catholic Church globally.

Making his ruling in front of a packed courtroom in Newcastle, New South Wales, Magistrate Robert Stone handed Wilson a 12 month prison sentence. However, due to his physical condition, Stone said Wilson would be given six months’ home detention, followed by six months parole.

Magistrate Robert Stone told Wilson the reason for his sentence was due to the “the criminality of the concealment” and recognizing the “harm done to the community.”

The magistrate noted during his decision that there was now “so much public outcry” regarding child abuse cover up in the Catholic Church and other religious groups.

“Therefore I consider it a matter that should be regarded as serious,” said Stone. “By concealing abuse it is demonstrating you are placing the needs of the perpetrator above the child.”

Wilson did not say anything on leaving court, ignoring repeated questions from the media about whether he would resign or apologize to the victims.

After the magistrate handed down his decision he asked Wilson to stand and told him his sentence. Survivors in the court including victims of Fletcher muttered their frustration the archbishop was not sent to prison. “It’s basically a holiday,” one lady said.

Speaking outside the court, victim Peter Gogarty said he was “disappointed that it’s not a custodial sentence,” but expressed hope Wilson would be assessed as unsuitable for home detention and end up behind bars.

There will be a hearing on August 14 to determine whether home detention is appropriate for Wilson and where he could stay, with his sister’s house raised as one option.

“We have made history here in Australia, (this is the) highest ranked church official to ever be brought to account for what we know is a world wide systematic abuse of children and the concealment of that abuse,” Gogarty said. “We have done something in Australia which no one else has been able to manage.”

CNN understands from sources in Rome that Pope Francis will not ask Wilson, who has held his senior post for 18 years, to resign until it is decided if he will appeal.

Gogarty said Wilson should resign, adding that if he does not “then the Catholic Church becomes a bigger laughing stock than it already is.”

Des Cahil, a professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and adviser to the Australian Royal Commission on child abuse, said Wilson had received a “just and fair sentence, given the circumstances that he was a young priest at the time, firmly under the influence of a clericalism that says church law prevails over criminal law.”

Other victims advocates were less enthused. Chrissie Foster, who is credited with helping to establish the Royal Commission after two of her three daughters were abused by a Melbourne bishop, said it was “outrageous.”

“We all understand how clergy perpetrators got away with so many crimes against children and how the trademark coverups of priests like Wilson helped,” she added. “Today society expects more than a slap on the wrist of those who helped prolong clergy sexual crimes against children.”

Detective Jeff Little, who led the investigation into Wilson, emphasized outside court that the Archbishop could still end up in prison if he is assessed unsuitable for home detention.

“But the most important thing here is the actual conviction,” Little said.

Mary-Jane Creigh, the sister of Peter Creigh, the victim who was ignored by Wilson in 1976, read a statement from her brother outside court after he was too ill to attend.

Creigh praised the efforts of Little and other investigators, saying without them Wilson’s conviction “would not have been possible.”

He expressed hope it would lead to more probes into the Catholic Church, an “organization that has betrayed society on such a huge scale.”

In a statement, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said it hoped “today’s custodial sentence brings some sense of peace and healing to those abused by deceased priest James Fletcher.”

“The Church has made substantial changes to ensure that abuse and coverup are not part of Catholic life and that children are safe in our communities,” it added.

The statement did not mention whether Wilson should resign from his position or if the Church would take any additional action against him.

Wilson’s legal defense had argued during an earlier hearing two weeks ago that a conviction and a good behavior bond was sufficient for the crime.

The Archbishop’s lawyers previously argued he had been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease which should preclude him from trial, but the bid was rejected.

Wilson was an assistant priest when Fletcher, a Catholic priest based in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, abused altar boys in the mid-1970s.

The Archbishop, failed to report the abuse to authorities, allowing Fletcher to remain in the clergy and abuse other children in the following years.

Wilson and Fletcher went their separate ways after 1976. Wilson would begin his climb through the church’s hierarchy, which would culminate in him becoming the Archbishop of Adelaide in 2001.

Fletcher was never charged with any offending relating to his behavior in 1976. However, in 2004, Fletcher was convicted of eight counts of child abuse and sentenced to 10 years. The eight charges were committed between 1989 and 1991.

Fletcher died in prison in 2006, a year after he sentenced to 10 years. Wilson was charged in 2015, accused of failing to report Fletcher’s abuse to police.

During the case Crown prosecutor Gareth Harrison had to prove that former alter boy Peter Creig told Archbishop Wilson about the sexual abuse in 1976.

On the day Wilson was convicted, Criegh, who waived his right to a non-publication order on his name, said it was a “very, very significant day.”

“It’s a decision that will hopefully unravel the hypocrisy, the deceit, and the abuse of power and trust that the Church has displayed,” he told the ABC.

In October, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will issue a formal apology to child sexual abuse victims as part of the government’s response to a sweeping five-year inquiry in institutional child abuse.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released its final report last December, describing a “serious failure” by Australia’s institutions to protect child victims and listing 409 recommendations.

The landmark report estimated that tens of thousands of children had been abused in Australian churches, youth groups, care homes and schools, in what the commission described as a “national tragedy.”

In recent weeks, Pope Francis has said he felt ashamed of the church’s failure to listen to victims of child sex abuse and has called for an end to the culture of abuse and coverup. </s> Brazil has been rocked by allegations that a prominent judge repeatedly collaborated with prosecutors during high-profile corruption investigations – including the controversial case that imprisoned former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

According to the Intercept, Sérgio Moro gave prosecutors strategic advice, criticism and tips during the sprawling graft investigation known as Operation Car Wash that jailed hundreds of executives, politicians and middlemen.

Prosecutors also allegedly discussed strategies to block a newspaper’s attempts to interview Lula during last year’s election campaign, according to the Intercept, which published cellphone chats it said it had received from an anonymous source.

Opinion polls had indicated that Lula was likely to win the 2018 presidential poll until he was imprisoned and forced out of the race. His last-minute replacement, Fernando Haddad was beaten by the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro – who then appointed Moro as justice minister.

Lula has been imprisoned since April 2018. He was handed a nine-year prison sentence in 2017 by Moro, who ruled that he received bribes from a construction company in the shape of a seaside apartment renovated for him.

On Sunday, the Intercept published excerpts from what it described as an “enormous trove” of group chats on the encrypted phone app Telegram, along with audio, video and other documentation.

Excerpts of conversations between prosecutors on the Telegram cellphone app appear to show Deltan Dallagnol, the lead prosecutor in the Car Wash investigation, expressing doubts over the strength of the case against Lula in September 2016, four days before filing the indictment.

“It is like stopping the other team from playing. It is like they decided to play the ball alone,” said Carlos Melo, a professor of political science at the São Paulo business school Insper. “A basic principle of law is that those who accuse do not judge.”

Other messages appeared to show that during the election campaign, prosecutors schemed against a decision by a supreme court judge to allow Brazil’s Folha de S Paulo newspaper to interview Lula in jail because it could help his Workers’ party’s electoral chances.

“The judge’s relationship with prosecutors is scandalous,” said the Intercept Brasil’s executive editor, Leandro Demori. “This is illegal under Brazilian law.”

In a statement on Sunday night, Moro said the disclosures “did not show any abnormality” and that they “ignored the giant corruption scheme revealed by Operation Car Wash”.

The minister also complained about the “criminal invasion” of prosecutors’ phones.

Damori declined to discuss how the site had obtained the material, other than to say that it came from an anonymous source. He said the archive was bigger than that revealed by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to the Rio-based journalist Glenn Greenwald – who later set up the Intercept and co-wrote Sunday’s articles.

President Bolsonaro has yet to comment but his son Carlos shared a tweet noting that Greenwald’s husband is congressman David Miranda from the leftist Socialism and Freedom party.

Prosecutors said in a statement they had been subject to a “criminal act” by a hacker which had compromised their safety with “the objective of impeding the continuity of the operation”. “Many conversations, without due context, can give way to misinterpretations,” they said. </s> Vatican chief financial adviser takes leave of absence after being charged with historical sexual assault offences

Top Vatican Cardinal George Pell has said he will take a leave of absence, but will not resign as he vowed to "clear" his name over multiple counts of historical sexual assault offences.

"I have kept Pope Francis regularly informed throughout this lengthy process, and have spoken to him in recent days about the need to take leave to clear my name," Pell said in a statement on Thursday.

Pell is the pope's chief financial adviser and Australia's most senior Catholic official.

Earlier on Thursday, he was summoned to appear in an Australian court to face multiple charges of "historic sexual offences", meaning the offences generally occurred some time ago.

He is the highest-ranking Vatican official to ever be charged in the church's long-running sexual abuse scandal.

Victoria state Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said Pell is required to appear at a Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 18 for a hearing.

The cardinal has strongly denied all accusations against him and said he is "looking forward" to his day in court.

"I am innocent of these charges. They are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me," Pell said in during news conference from the Vatican on Thursday.

While details regarding the charges have yet to be released, Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas, reporting from Sydney, said "the fact that there are multiple charges to answer against, really gives the impression that these are very serious allegations".

Pam Stavropoulos of the Sydney-based Blue Knot Foundation told Al Jazeera that the fact such charges have been issued "is highly significant".

She said that because they have been "laid frivolously would be the response of a long investigation by the Australian police", adding that the charges show "this is certainly a highly serious matter".

The charges are a new and serious blow to Pope Francis, who has already suffered several credibility setbacks in his promised "zero tolerance" policy about sex abuse.

For years, Pell has faced allegations that he mishandled cases of clergy abuse when he was archbishop of Melbourne and, later, Sydney.

His actions as archbishop came under intense scrutiny in recent years by an Australian government-authorised investigation into how the Catholic Church and other institutions have responded to the sexual abuse of children.

In February, The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, reported more than 4,400 alleged incidents of sexual abuse by Catholic priests between 1980 and 2015.

It also said seven percent of Catholic priests in Australian were accused of sexually abusing children between 1950 and 2015, but few allegations were investigated.

During his testimony to the commission last year, Pell acknowledged that the church had made "enormous mistakes" in allowing thousands of children to be raped and molested by priests.

He conceded that he, too, had erred by often believing the priests over victims who alleged abuse. And he vowed to help end a rash of suicides that has plagued church abuse victims in his Australian hometown of Ballarat. </s> A South Korean pastor who styled himself as a deity has been sentenced to 15 years in jail after raping eight female followers of his church.

Lee Jae-Rock, founder of Seoul's Manmin Central Church, led a 130,000-strong denomination until his downfall over recent months.

Swirling allegations of sexual abuse finally caught up with Lee, having first been accused of sexually assaulting five women in April.

At the time, the survivors reported to the Korea Herald that Lee forced them to have sex several times, and claimed it was an "order from God".

Judge Chung Moon-sung told the Seoul Central District Court Lee's sermons, "indirectly or directly suggested he is the holy spirit, deifying himself".

The court found he raped the victims "tens of times" over a long period.

In South Korea, large Christian mega-churches are a familiar sight, wielding vast monetary assets in addition to followers.

Some people see these churches as more akin to cults, as they demand more intensive expressions of monetary and physical devotion.

In August, the South Korean leader of the Grace Road Church, Shin Ok-ju, was arrested in Seoul after it was alleged she had detained about 400 followers in Fiji.

The fringe Christian denomination believe God ordered Fiji to be the site to prepare for a major global famine and drought.

They have since opened a string of restaurants around the country, while the Methodist Church of Fiji has labelled it a cult.

On its website, the Manmin Central Church comes with the promise of miracles, free medical examinations, and one church that has turned seawater into drinkable water.

A 2007 report compiled by the Australian Refugee Tribunal tabled multiple claims of violence and intimidation toward critics of Lee.

In 1999, Lee's church was expelled by the Christian Council of Korea. The body declared the church "heretical, owing to its aberrant religious faith, corruption and a sex scandal surrounding the church leader".

In the same year, his followers stormed the offices of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), accusing them of creating a "defamatory" program against their leader.

More than 1,500 protesters led a peaceful demonstration outside the broadcaster's offices, while three church officials stormed the station's control room which prevented the program from being broadcast.

Originally designed to detail questions over Lee's sex life, alongside his "heretical" claims, the broadcaster was eventually forced to remove the sexual allegations after the church took the broadcaster to court.

Lee and his supporters said repeatedly his allegations stemmed from individuals who sought revenge after being excommunicated from his ministry. </s> Singer R. Kelly, already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors, was arrested in Chicago Thursday on a federal grand jury indictment listing 13 counts including sex crimes and obstruction of justice.

CHICAGO — Singer R. Kelly, already facing sexual abuse charges brought by Illinois prosecutors, was arrested in Chicago Thursday on a federal grand jury indictment listing 13 counts including sex crimes and obstruction of justice.

U.S. Attorney’s office spokesman Joseph Fitzpatrick said the R&B singer was taken into custody about 7 p.m. local time and was being held by federal authorities.

He was arrested after the federal indictment was handed down earlier Thursday in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois.

“The counts include child porn, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that further details would be released Friday.

The arrest was the second time this year that Kelly has been taken into custody in Chicago on sex charges. The 52-year-old Grammy winner, whose real name is Robert Kelly, was arrested in February on 10 counts in Illinois involving four women, three of whom were minors when the alleged abuse occurred. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and was released on bail.

Then on May 30, Cook County prosecutors added 11 more sex-related counts against the R&B singer involving one of the women who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was underage.

His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment on the federal charges. Fitzpatrick said Kelly’s arraignment date and time had not yet been set.

Kelly has faced mounting legal troubles this year after Lifetime aired a documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” which revisited allegations of sexual abuse of girls. The series followed the BBC’s “R Kelly: Sex, Girls & Videotapes,” releasedin 2018, that alleged the singer was holding women against their will and running a “sex cult.”

Soon after the release of the Lifetime documentary, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office had been inundated with calls about the allegations in the documentary. Her office’s investigation led to the charges in February and additional counts added in May.

Kelly avoided prison after similar allegations were made more than a decade ago. A jury in 2008 acquitted him of child pornography charges that stemmed from the publication by the Chicago Sun-Times of a videotape allegedly showing Kelly having sex with a minor. </s> The Intercept has released documents showing that prosecutors, and even the presiding judge, in the case against former president Lula da Silva conspired to railroad him and his party’s chances in the presidential election.

The Intercept published three exposés, Sunday, showing political motivation by members of a taskforce of prosecutors in charge of, and even the judge presiding over, one of the biggest corruption scandals in Brazil’s history. Known as ‘Operation Car Wash’, the scandal has implicated scores of politicians in Brazil and the wider Latin American region from across the political spectrum.



The most high profile conviction so far has been Brazil’s popular former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, widely known simply as “Lula.” Da Silva was elected president of the South American nation twice, in 2002 and 2006, by large margins and left office with approval ratings of over 80 percent. He was planning to run in the 2018 elections and was favorite to win before his campaign was railroaded by his court case and subsequent conviction in August of that year. With da Silva out of the race, a right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain and member of the Brazilian parliament, defeated the relatively unknown former Sao Paulo mayor, Fernando Haddad, who ran as the replacement candidate for da Silva’s Workers’ Party (PT in its Portuguese initials). PT is a center-left social democratic party with a large base of support amongst the country’s poor and working class.

According to the Intercept, the leaked communications are made up of “private chats, audio recordings, videos, photos, court proceedings, and other documentation.” The Intercept’s co-founding editor Glenn Greenwald, along with reporters Leandro Demori and Betsy Reed, say that they demonstrate beyond doubt the flagrant political motivation of the case’s prosecutors and the then-presiding judge Sergio Moro. According to the authors, the documents show “serious wrongdoing, unethical behavior, and systematic deceit about which the public, both in Brazil and internationally, has the right to know.”

Most damning for the Bolsonaro government is the inclusion of Moro in some of the leaks, who the president appointed to a powerful position within his cabinet following his election victory – dubbed “a super justice minister” in the Brazilian press. The appointment was widely seen as confirming suspicions that Moro was far from politically neutral. His actions during the trial, such as tapping phones and intimidating defense attorneys, has been dubbed “lawfare,” with one UK-based human rights lawyer likening his behavior to the Catholic Inquisition. Moro consistently denied the allegations, instead presenting himself as a public servant engaged in a noble campaign against corruption.

But according to the Intercept, several of the documents show direct collusion between Moro and lead prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol. For example, shortly after Dallagnol initiated the corruption case against da Silva, he privately messaged Moro to discuss how they would conspire to present him as the “maximum leader” of Operation Car Wash. Dallagnol was open about the lack of material evidence against da Silva throughout the discussions and stressed the need for the trial to take place in the Curitiba province where Moro has jurisdiction.

Also of particular interest is the contents of a group chat held between the prosecutors and Moro on the cell phone app Telegram. In the chat, they discuss how they wish to damage the PT’s chances in the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections even after da Silva had been disqualified. For example, they spoke about how to use a court mechanism to block a newspaper from interviewing him from within prison.

After publication, the prosecutors issued a press release in which they did not deny the veracity of the leaks, but rather alleged that they had been illegally obtained. A statement made by Sergio Moro also did not directly contradict the claims but rather accused the publication of “sensationalism” and taking the information “out of context.” The articles also precipitated some vicious back-and-forth attacks between Greenwald and President Bolsonaro's son Eduardo. Bolsonaro posted a tweet attacking Greenwald as a “voice for Snowden” and “dumping” US classified information through Wikileaks. Greenwald responded by pointing out that Bolsonaro was simply using irrelevant “little attacks to distract” from the matter at hand.

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Prosecutors in Goiás, Brazil request the preventive detention of medium João de Deus over more than 200 allegations of sexual abuse. João de Deus became internationally famous in 2013, when his controversial psychic healing methods were broadcast on Oprah Winfrey's show Oprah's Next Chapter.