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President Jair Bolsonaro mentioned, during the press conference on the departure of Sergio Moro, the name of the Rio political scientist Ilona Szabo. The now former minister appointed her early last year to the post of alternate member of the National Council for Penal and Prison Policy, a body made up of members of civil society.
In the statement that took place last Friday (24), Bolsonaro said that Ilona was an “abortionist” and defended “gender ideology”. As president of the Igarapé Institute, Szabó has considerable experience and international support in the study and performance of public security problems.
Ilona Szabó gave an interview to Marie Claire in which she said that she had to leave the country after suffering attacks and persecution on social networks.
When asked by the media how she received the words of Bolsoro, who said she was an abortionist and a defender of gender ideology, Szabo said: Impressive because this is the second time she has done so. He prefers to mention topics that are not my work schedule. I also don’t know what gender ideology is, I would like someone to explain it to me. The President clearly knows what my positions are. We have many points of difference and the main one is gun control. I work for the responsible regulation of weapons. And I think he does it, especially with women, to play other groups that have more radical positions against us. There is a strong group, from the arms lobby, of people who think that arming everyone is one way, they want to gather more people to annoy me on social networks. Obviously this is not just on social media.
Ilona also said if she had received other attacks sparked by the president’s speeches and how the attacks went beyond social media.
“I have been the target of attacks for a long time, but they have worsened since 2017. I saw animosities in a public place, catching an airlift, events. But unfortunately under the Bolsonaro government, the attacks have other consequences. We had to take a series of security measures at the Igarapé Institute, change the headquarters. I went to spend time outside of Brazil, to do a scholarship. I already wanted to reflect, but the question of not being able to do a risk analysis of the safety of my family, the people who work with me, caused this change. I had the opportunity to investigate the closure of the civic space in Brazil. I spoke to people: journalists, artists, people who had left the government to find out the consequences of the online attacks on their personal lives. And there are many. Also because there is blackmail, intimidation, another type of monitoring that places us at a very critical moment. Attacks are not just online, they enter personal, institutional and professional life. ”
The political scientist was surprised by the president’s speech. “I was surprised. As I said, this has had a very strong impact on my life before. I don’t think it is an offense. But I know what it means. I, my family, my team have already paid a very high price. All I could not imagine is that something so insignificant was mentioned in the midst of a pandemic, in which thousands of people are dying. What is really the focus of a president? I cannot call it leadership because it has no leadership competence, it is not uniting the country. For me, the focus should be on the pandemic, both saving lives and trying to get financial aid. What is clear is that saving lives is not a priority for this president. ”
He also clarified whether he maintained contact with former minister Sergio Moro. “Since the resignation episode, we never spoke again. It does not mean that we have not contributed to public policies. We built dialogues with the public security secretariat, but anyone I met from the government, like I met with Santa Cruz, was penalized. There was no space and I never had to do hidden things. My option in society is to have my opinion and pay the price. I am free. I continue the dialogue, except with the federal executive, as I would like to do. I did it with all the previous governments since I started working. “
