STF asks Torres’ defense for explanations after PF says passwords are incorrect

Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), gave a period of 48 hours for the defense of former minister Anderson Torres to clarify the information provided by the Federal Police this Friday (28) that the passwords provided to access to electronic data are incorrect. He is one of those investigated for involvement in the acts of January 8 in Brasilia, when he held the position of Secretary of Public Security for the Federal District.

According to the dispatch of the minister, obtained by the People’s Gazette, the PF found that “none of the passwords provided were correct, which made it impossible to extract the data stored in the service” from Anderson Torres’ cloud. The defense of the former minister delivered the passwords to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) a little over a week ago, as an act of collaboration in order to obtain a habeas corpus to exchange preventive detention for precautionary measures.

A new request for habeas corpus made last Wednesday (26) by Torres’ defense alleged that he was at “risk of suicide” after having worsened his health in prison in recent weeks. This would have occurred after another request for release was denied by Alexandre de Moraes.

Torres’ defense said that “it was surprised by the news that the referee provided invalid passwords to the Federal Police.” According to a request filed with the STF and also sent to the report, it is possible that “the passwords were provided in error, given their degree of cognitive impairment”, which would have been proven by a psychiatric report that led to the prescription of medication.

“In this scenario, in view of the applicant’s current mental state, with frequent memory lapses and cognitive difficulty, confirming the validity of passwords, in today’s situation, proves to be extremely difficult”, completed the defense of the former minister.

The lawyers defending Torres also stated that they did not try to confirm whether the passwords were still valid “in order to preserve the chain of custody”, and that, nowadays, users are no longer concerned with “memorizing” passwords, “since modernity allows devices to store passwords, with the possibility of using ‘face ID’ or even your ‘fingerprint’ to access your personal data”.

Torres’ defense finalizes the request by asking the STF to ask Apple and the internet service provider UOL to make data regarding the former minister’s cloud and email available.