In a shocking attack on press freedom, the Brazil’s rightwing government announced on Tuesday it was charging the journalist Glenn Greenwald with “cybercrimes” in relation to his reporting on the Bolsonaro administration and corruption within its ranks.

Thankfully, as of now, Greenwald remains free; a federal judge must affirm the charges before he is officially indicted. But make no mistake: this move by the Brazilian government is an outrageous attempt to retaliate against a journalist who has reported critically on Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro; its justice minister, Sergio Moro; and their allies – and it reeks of authoritarianism.

Journalists everywhere should be disturbed by what this means for press freedom in the world’s fifth-largest country.

Over the past year, Greenwald and the Intercept Brasil, where he is a founding editor, have published a series of explosive stories based on leaked text messages that show Moro, who was a judge at the time, closely coordinating with prosecutors during high-profile corruption trials. Most notably, Moro presided over the trial that sent Bolsonaro’s main rival for the presidency, the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to prison. After Bolsonaro was elected, Moro was quickly named justice minister.

The Intercept’s investigations have rocked the political establishment in Brazil, have become a huge international story, and have created buzz that the Intercept will win major journalism awards.

Yet Bolsonaro spent last year publicly suggesting Greenwald should be thrown in prison, saying he “committed crimes” (without evidence) and that he “may do jail time”. He had previously hurled homophobic slurs at Greenwald. Bolsonaro’s fanatical supporters have also relentlessly harassed and threatened Greenwald and his spouse – the federal congressman and Guardian US columnist David Miranda – with physical harm. In June of last year, rightwing publications in Brazil sympathetic to the president said he was under investigation by the police.

At the time, dozens of international press freedom organizations (including Freedom of the Press Foundation, where I am executive director and Greenwald is a board member), condemned the physical and legal threats as they were escalating. But then, in a sweeping decision, a judge on Brazil’s supreme court ruled that any attempt by the Bolsonaro government or the police to investigation Greenwald and the Intercept for its reporting would “constitute an unambiguous act of censorship” and would violate Brazil’s constitution.

It should be clear to anyone – no matter their political persuasion – that the Bolsonaro administration is taking action in a purely retaliatory manner

The Brazilian government claims that Greenwald is part of the “criminal enterprise” of hackers that initially obtained the leaked text messages, despite the fact that a federal police report unequivocally cleared Greenwald of any wrongdoing just a month ago. And as Thiago Bottino, a legal expert at Fundação Getúlio Vargas University in Rio de Janeiro, told the New York Times: “There’s nothing in the complaint showing that he helped or guided” the alleged hackers. “You can’t punish a journalist for divulging a document that was obtained through criminal means,” he said.

Greenwald is known for his principled, unrelenting and sometimes caustic voice, so it was heartening to see a wide swath of US commentators, including those who have had disagreements with Greenwald over the years, come to his defense on Twitter after the charges were announced.

It should be clear to anyone – no matter their political persuasion – that the Bolsonaro administration is taking these actions in a purely retaliatory manner in an attempt to criminalize journalism. Bolsonaro has been furious about the Intercept Brasil’s reporting for months, and the Intercept Brasil has published over 90 articles on the leaked chats and their aftermath.

As the ACLU’s Ben Wizner put it in a statement: “The United States must immediately condemn this outrageous assault on the freedom of the press, and recognize that its attacks on press freedoms at home have consequences for American journalists doing their jobs abroad.”

Greenwald, to his credit, is defiant as always, declaring in a statement shortly after the charges were announced: “We will not be intimidated by these tyrannical attempts to silence journalists. I am working right now on new reporting and will continue to do so. Many courageous Brazilians sacrificed their liberty and even life for Brazilian democracy and against repression, and I feel an obligation to continue their noble work.”

Thankfully, at least as of now, Greenwald remains free to continue his work. Let’s hope he remains that way.