The President of the Republic said that in the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins, he “scrupulously observed ethics and the law.”

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said this Thursday that he “scrupulously respected both ethics and the law” in the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins treated at the Santa Maria Hospital, and repeated that “the son of the president is not the president” . ”

“I am not Dr. Nuno Rebelo de Souza. He is 50 years old, he has lived in Brazil for 10 years, he is a man who is not the president of the republic, he was not elected. The president’s son is not the president, the president’s brother is not the president. In Portugal, only one person has been elected president, and that is me,” said the head of state, entering a meeting of the Serralves Founding Council in Porto.

Stating that he was not involved “in any controversy,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he “scrupulously followed both ethics and the law” regarding the case of Portuguese-Brazilian twins treated at Santa Maria Hospital.

“The President of the Republic did what he had to do, he did it equally for everyone, as the Prime Minister admitted. On the same day, several cases were sent to the government,” he said.

When asked who the then Social Adviser Maria João Ruela was talking to, the President of the Republic replied that he did not know, only noting that it was the head of the Civil Chamber who “defined the doctrine that priority should be [no tratamento] of Portuguese women living in Portugal in relation to others.”

As for the motivation for sending the request, knowing the negative position of the Civil Chamber, the head of state stated that “individuals have the right to send it to the departments competent to make decisions.”

“The question is very simple. All citizens are equal. This was decided by the head of the Civil Chamber, and it was, as the Prime Minister explained, very good, equal treatment of all Portuguese,” he said, adding that the request was without his last name to avoid unequal treatment.

In November, TVI reported the case of two twin children living in Brazil, who had meanwhile acquired Portuguese citizenship and came to Portugal in 2019 to receive the drug Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy, at a total cost of four million euros.

The case is being investigated by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and the Inspectorate General of Medical Activities (IGAS) and is the subject of an internal review at the Santa Maria Hospital.

Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, who has already submitted documentation on this matter to the PGR and confirmed that his son approached him about the need for treatment of children, denies any interference in the process.