Brasília (AFP) - Brazilian prosecutors filed terrorism charges Friday against eight people accused of plotting attacks and recruiting followers ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro last month. The eight Brazilians were arrested in July for organizing what the authorities described as an "amateur" terrorist cell that had sworn loyalty to the Islamic State jihadist group. In an investigation dubbed Operation Hashtag, police intercepted messages sent using the cell phone application Telegram in which the suspects discussed "the idea that they had to step out of the virtual realm and start acting for real," prosecutor Rafael Brum told a news conference.



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