GSI decreed secrecy of images that overthrew minister – 04/19/2023 – Politics

The images of the internal security circuit of the Planalto Palace during the attacks of January 8, revealed this Wednesday (19) and responsible for the exoneration of the now ex-minister of the GSI (Institutional Security Office) Gonçalves Dias, were put on secrecy by the government.

The report of Sheet asked, via the Access to Information Law, for the complete images recorded by the internal and external security cameras of the Palácio do Planalto system, referring to the Sunday in which coup demonstrators vandalized the buildings of the three Powers.

By denying access to the entirety of the images, the GSI stated in February that it is “unreasonable” to disclose information that exposes methods, equipment, operational procedures and human resources of presidential security.

“Thus, this request for information cannot be met, given that the images of the video monitoring system of the Palácio do Planalto are of restricted access, considering that their indiscriminate disclosure brings damage and vulnerabilities to the security activity of the presidential installations” , says the answer.

In another section, it states: “If access to the requested information is provided, efficiency, as a constitutional principle of public administration, and the public interest in preventing adverse actions against the authorities protected by the GSI/PR are left unattended”.

However, the government released edited excerpts of these images that do not allow analyzing the action and possible omission of the security forces on January 8 inside the palace, in addition to prioritizing passages that link the image of the attacks more strongly to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The videos that received classification by the government show the performance of GSI soldiers during the invasion of the Executive headquarters.

The vandals received water from the military and greeted GSI agents during the attacks. The images also show Minister Gonçalves Dias walking around the third floor of the palace, in the anteroom of the President of the Republic’s office, while the acts took place on the floor below.

The images generated pressure on the general who commanded the office responsible for the security of the headquarters of the Executive and the Presidency, who asked for his resignation from the position this Wednesday afternoon, shortly after a meeting with Lula, who accepted the request.

The recordings were sent to the Army as part of internal investigations into the performance of the Presidential Guard Battalion during the attacks on the Powers. The investigation was closed and sent confidentially to the STF (Supreme Federal Court), after a decision by Minister Alexandre de Moraes authorizing the common Justice to judge the military personnel involved in the acts.

The images from the security cameras of the Planalto Palace had been placed under secrecy by the Lula government in early February, alleging risks to the security of the presidential installations.