Facebook campaign calling for the release of jailed activists as a preventive anti-protests measure. Photo: Frente Independente Popular/Facebook On the eve of the final World Cup match in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro police “preemptively” arrested dozens of activists opposed to hosting the tournament because authorities suspected they would engage in violent acts during a demonstration scheduled during the final. Charges of forming an armed gang were filed against 23 of them, prompting three to unsuccessfully ask for political asylum from Uruguay. The accused only gained access to the 8,000-page complaint on July 24 days after their arrest, and to their surprise, the case against them is one seemingly based on betrayal, jealousy and revenge. The complaint includes statements from three witnesses who had personal disputes with some of the activists. Initially, the press reported that the entire complaint was based solely on the testimony of Felipe Braz, a former member of the far-left-wing organization Independent People's Front (FIP). Independent journalist Collective Mariachi described Braz: Chegou a agredir fisicamente uma companheira no Ocupa Cabral, de onde foi expulso pelos ativistas e motivo pelo qual foi “escrachado” pelas feministas, começando assim um histórico de desavenças com os manifestantes [Braz] even physically assaulted a comrade at Occupy Cabral, from which he was expelled by activists and why he was named and shamed by feminists, thus beginning a history of disagreements with the protesters On the same day that the complaint became public, Braz gave an interview to the newspaper O Dia from Rio de Janeiro, boasting about having given testimony against activist Elisa Quadros, known as Sininho (Tinkerbell). His cynicism dismayed many activists. On Facebook, activist and professor Henrique Antoun commented: Polícia, promotor, juiz, Globo e quase toda a impren$a massacram 23 pessoas com base no depoimento de um canalha inclassificável, capaz de dizer as coisas mais escabrosas e rir sadicamente do sofrimento e da humilhação alheias. Police, prosecutor, judge, Globo and almost the entire pre$$ massacre 23 people based on the testimony of a unclassifiable scoundrel, able to tell the most scabrous things and laugh sadistically at the suffering and humiliation of others. The second witness is Anne Marie Josephine Louise Rosencrantz, who told police that Sininho wanted to burn down the Rio de Janeiro city council. Rosencrantz is the ex-girlfriend of activist Game Over, and she accuses Sininho of “stealing” him from her. In posts on her Google Plus account seven months ago, Rosencrantz insults Sininho, calling her manipulative. Game Over was one of those arrested the day before the World Cup final. The third person whose statements appear in the complaint is Cleyton “Joker” Silbernagel, a candidate for state representative for the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) who declared his love for Sininho in videos posted on YouTube and said that he regretted informing on her to police. The Collective Mariachi described him as a young man with “mental problems, [who] has over 10 fake Facebook profiles” and who poses for photos alongside controversial political figures. Cleyton “calls himself ‘a former Black Bloc’ and one of his promises in his bid for State Representative (this is true) in the upcoming elections is to institute the ‘Day of the Black Bloc’ holiday,” according to the collective. Black Bloc is a protest tactic of wearing black clothing and covering the face with a mask or bandanna that has been used at demonstrations since 2013. Some protesters dressed this way have vandalized property or committed arson. The 23 activists charged with forming an armed gang deny planning any violence. Sininho has accused them of “disgusting manipulation” and trying to frame the activists. Lawyer Eloisa Samy, one of activists who sought asylum at the Consulate of Uruguay, said the complaint was based on “pathetic” accusations. Authorities, who said they had been investigating the activists since September 2013, also wiretapped phone calls of lawyers and the Institute of Human Rights Defenders during their investigation. In light of the complaint, some have criticised the arrests as attempts to persecute social movements with the support of various mainstream media outlets. Several activists and even groups of lawyers have accused the coverage of the country's biggest media outlet, Rede Globo, of manipulation, censorship and lies.