Lawyer Magalhães e Silva said this Sunday that he hopes that the investigating judge “will not follow” the proposal of the Ministry of State (MP) for the preventive detention of Diogo Lacerda Machado, a measure that he called “ultramontana”.
“I hope that the judge will not follow this ultra-monistic proposal from the Ministry of Justice,” said Lacerda Machado’s lawyer at the Justice Campus in Lisbon, answering a question from journalists about the most serious coercive measure, preventive detention, which the Ministry’s Auditorium had asked for. for your client.
On Saturday evening, the lawyer advised journalists not to expect measures restricting freedom, although he said that the decisions of the investigating judge were “like a marriage,” that is, a “sealed letter.”
Regarding the prosecutor’s reasons for using this coercive measure, Magalhães e Silva said that it is “usual”, that is, there is a risk of flight, continuation of criminal activity and disruption of the investigation.
He also repeated that the MP “explicitly admitted there was a mistake”, that in fact it was not Prime Minister António Costa, “but António Costa Silva,” the Minister of Economy.
“No hesitation at all,” he told reporters.
This morning, upon entering the court, the lawyer mentioned that the deputy admitted an error in the transcript of the wiretapped conversation of Diogo Lacerda Machado, where the Minister of Economy, António Costa Silva, was mentioned, but only António Costa was recorded.
“It was Dr. Lacerda Machado who told the prosecutor’s office that this omission did occur, and the prosecutor’s office admitted it,” the lawyer said at the time.
“Just like I already [dito] when it was an order to produce: “Ah, we removed this article relating to 75,800 euros, since it has nothing to do with this case,” he noted now, leaving the courtroom.
The prosecutor’s office also requested preventive detention for the former chief of staff of the Prime Minister, Victor Escaria.
A source connected with the process told Lusa that the administrator of Start Campus, Afonso Salema, was asked for a no-contact order and a deposit of 200 thousand euros, and the administrator of the company, Rui Oliveira Neves, was asked for a deposit of 100 thousand euros, as well as a no-contact order.
According to the same source, regarding the mayor of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, the ministry requested the suspension of the mandate, a ban on contact and a ban on entering municipal facilities as coercive measures.
These five defendants are detained as part of this process that is investigating the business of lithium, hydrogen and data centers in Sines, and this Sunday the last arguments of lawyers and prosecutors took place at the Justice Campus in Lisbon after the conclusion of interrogations.
The Prime Minister resigned on Tuesday after it became known that his name had been mentioned by participants in the investigation, prompting the President of the Republic to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic and call legislative elections for March 10.
The prosecutor’s operation on Tuesday was based on at least 42 searches and led to the detention for questioning of five people: the chief of staff of the Prime Minister Vitor Escaria, the president of the Chamber of Sines Nuno Mascarenhas, two administrators of the Start Campus Society, Afonso Salema and Ruy Oliveira Neves, as well as lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado, friend of Antonio Costa.
There are nine defendants in total, including Infrastructure Minister João Galamba, Portuguese Environmental Agency President Nuno Lacasta, lawyer and former PS representative João Thiago Silveira and the company Start Campus.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.