Prosecutors’ decision to charge US journalist with cybercrimes decried as abuse of power
![Greenwald charges are ‘existential threat’ to journalism in Brazil, says Edward Snowden](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/3675863d0ee4b97dbfd0e0a8868953e473ac005b/0_251_5568_3341/master/5568.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=15db103963fbee3519fa30a561d8cace)
Press and internet freedom advocates – including Edward Snowden – have criticised a decision by Brazilian federal prosecutors to charge the journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes as a blatant abuse of power and an existential threat to investigative reporting in the country.
Prosecutors claimed on Tuesday that Greenwald, 52, “helped, encouraged and guided” a group of hackers who obtained phone messages between key figures in a sweeping Brazilian anti-corruption investigation.