Chief of Staff Denies ‘Favorable Treatment’ of Twins

In the commission of inquiry into the case, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo acknowledged “irregularities in the process” but stated that “the President of the Republic has nothing to do with it.”

In an email sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, Frutuoso de Melo admitted that he had “deliberately” omitted to mention that it was the head of state’s son, Nuno Rebelo de Sousa, who had approached the PR agency to ask for help for the children, so as not to be seen as “any indirect form of pressure.”

He explained that he could not “legally submit or not respond to a citizen’s request,” but acknowledged that he felt “some discomfort” when considering the request from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s son.

According to the head of the Civil Chamber, Nuno’s email was related to the Hospital Center of Central Lisbon and, since it was a pediatric case, they assumed it was the Dona Estefânia Hospital. Therefore, “there was no contact with the Santa Maria Hospital.”

The Civil Chamber informed Nuno and the children’s parents that “the treatment decision was purely medical, that the hospital should react when it considered it appropriate, and that the matter had been referred to the government,” Frutuoso de Melo said. “If I knew what I know today, I would have said: come urgently,” he stressed.

Marcelo, according to Frutuoso de Melo, “never asked” how the process was going. “I explained to the President of the Republic that the file had been sent to the government, like hundreds of thousands of others,” he said. He assured then-Health Minister Marta Temido that he “never” spoke about twins.

Regarding the email in which Nuno complained about bureaucracy and asked for “more help,” Frutuoso de Melo considered that “we all understand what he means.” He assured that the son of the President of the Republic, whose “motives” he claimed he did not know, “did not receive the expected answer,” ensuring that he had “much more

Nuno’s email asked his father for help
Nuno Rebelo de Sousa asked his father Marcelo for help with his Portuguese-Brazilian twins in an email sent on October 21, 2019. The President of the Republic then emailed the head of the Civil Chamber to contact Maria João Ruele, the Social Affairs Councillor, if she could know what he was asking about. “The persistent one.”

Illegal request
In an investigation into the twins, the General Inspectorate for Health (IGAS) concluded that the twins’ first consultation was unlawful.

Lacerda Sales and Nuno Meeting
On November 7, 2019, António Lacerda Sales, the former Minister of Health, met with Nuno Rebelo de Sousa. According to the former governor, that day Nuno addressed the situation of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins. Nuno, for his part, says he informed Lacerda Sales of the children’s situation on November 10 in a message thanking her for the meeting.