The Office of the Prosecutor (MP) initiated a special investigation to assess the “disciplinary significance of the behavior” of the Deputy Prosecutor General, who published an opinion article criticizing the actions of the deputy in Operation Influential Man.
The progress of the investigation was confirmed today by the Office of the Prosecutor General (PGO) of Lusa after the CIK announced the start of the process.
According to the PGR, the opening of the special investigation is based on “a statement sent by the Director of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Affairs (DCIAP), Deputy Attorney General Francisco Narciso.
“After publishing the article in the link [no jornal Público] and a statement sent by the Director of the DCIAP, the Attorney General of the Republic decided to establish, in accordance with Article 264 of the Statute of the Prosecutor’s Office, a special investigative process for the purpose of assessing the disciplinary significance of the conduct of this subscriber,” refers to the PGR note for Lusa.
Also, according to the GRR, “The Prosecutor General of the Republic [Lucília Gago] informed the Supreme Council of the Prosecutor’s Office (SCMP) about this institution at a plenary meeting on November 22.”
Speaking to Lusa, Deputy Attorney General (PGA) Maria José Fernandez said she was waiting to be summoned to the trial and did not want to make a statement.
In an opinion piece in the newspaper Público PGA, Maria José Fernández, although without mentioning Operation Influential Man, asks how it was possible to go so far, that is, until “decisions were made that provoked a monumental political crisis and whose consequences will still be in the graveyard,” calling into question the work of the deputy and the methods of investigation, namely DVIAP.
In the article, the prosecutor states, among other things, that “the results of several cases already examined suggest that there are aspects of the work of investigative prosecutors that require review and improvement through the exercise of self-criticism.”
In response, the President of the Union of Judges of the Prosecutor’s Office (SMMP) considered that the opinion piece presented a “lack of argument” and “gross errors” on the issue of the autonomy of this judiciary, saying that the PGA represents “the only and clearly disagreed by almost all the MP judges” revealing some “vices”.
The Operation Influencer investigation became public following an operation carried out on November 7 by a Member of Parliament, which involved 42 searches and led to the arrest of five people: Vitor Escaria, Diogo Lacerda Machado, Start Campus administrators Afonso Salem and Rui Oliveira. Neves and the mayor of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas.
In total, there are nine defendants in the case, including former Minister of Infrastructure João Galamba, President of the Portuguese Environmental Agency Nuno Lacasta, lawyer, former Minister of Justice and former PS representative João Thiago Silveira and the company Start Campus.
The process is linked to lithium exploration in Montalegre and Boticas (both districts of Vila Real), to the production of energy from hydrogen in Sines, Setúbal, and to the Start Campus project for the construction of a Data Center in the industrial and logistics zone of Sines.
During the interrogations of those detained during Operation Influencer, criminal judge Nuno Díaz Costa found that Diogo Lacerda Machado (consultant and friend of the Prime Minister) was seriously accused of influence peddling and sentenced him to bail of 150 thousand euros and not allowed to leave. abroad and must surrender their passport.
In the case of Vitor Escaria (the chief of staff of António Costa, who was fired after an investigation), there was strong evidence of a crime of influence peddling and he was banned from traveling abroad and forced to surrender his passport.
Mayor Nuno Mascarenhas and administrators Rui Oliveira Neves and Afonso Salema of Start Campus were subject only to the conditions of identification and residence (TIR), with the company required to pay a deposit of 600 thousand euros. There has been no evidence of any wrongdoing against the mayor, and two administrators have been charged with peddling influence and offering improper benefits.
The judge did not confirm the evidence provided by the deputy of corruption and malfeasance that affected the defendants.
This investigation led to the opening of a corresponding investigation with a deputy of the Supreme Court related to the wiretapping of conversations between the accused and the outgoing Prime Minister António Costa.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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