Diogo Lacerda Machado’s defense team is calling for the most serious enforcement measures taken during the Operation Influential Man investigation to be overturned, arguing there is no flight risk or evidence of criminality to justify them.
In an appeal against the coercive measures to which Lusa had access and which will be assessed by the Lisbon Court of Appeal, the defense of lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado, a consultant for the company Start Campus also accused in this case, and a friend of the Prime Minister Minister António Costa argues that there is no evidence influence peddling or flight risk, meaning that “nothing allows for the continuation of the coercive measures provided for in the order.”
The defense, led by lawyer Manuel Magalhães e Silva, argues that, with the exception of the TIR period, the rest of the measures adopted in November should be repealed.
At the end of the judicial interrogation as part of Operation Influencer, Diogo Lacerda Machado was charged with serious influence peddling, as well as bail of €150,000 and surrender of his passport.
The appeal challenges an allegation of peddling of influence in relation to the licensing of Sines’ data center development in a special conservation area (ZEC), citing a “chronological impossibility” described in the records.
According to the appeal, Lacerda Machado “did not interfere on this topic with any government body, be it Secretary of State João Galamba or the President of the APA.” [Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente] Nuno Lacasta was from Minister Duarte Cordeiro and even from the Chief of Staff of Prime Minister Vitor Escaria,” which “is confirmed by the actual chronological reconstruction, if done correctly.”
In essence, the defense claims that the process describes that the decision to license the construction of the Data Center was taken in May 2022, in a conversation between the President of the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and the then Secretary of State João Galamba.
“The issue of ZEC, as a possible obstacle to licensing the implementation of the Data Center, arises and has a solution, in fact, absolutely legal and legal, in the period from August 2021 to May 2022. During which the defendant did not meet or speak (…) with the head the office of the Prime Minister Vitor Escaria (…), with whom he met and spoke only on December 22, 2022, seven months after the solution was found,” the statement said.
According to the defense, the record shows that Lacerda Machado “did not intervene in the ZEC matter, did not request, influence or even propose any solution” and that the investigating judge’s decision was based on “an error of fact” as well as “poor judgment.”
This, he adds, is due to the fact that the adopted favorable environmental impact assessment (EIA) with compensatory measures is not illegal and complies with current legislation.
The appeal also criticizes the Ministry of State’s (MP) indictment, which states that “nothing allows us to conclude” that Lacerda Machado was hired by Start Campus because he was the prime minister’s best friend, “hence able take advantage of relationships to put pressure on government decision makers when they are called upon to make decisions on company matters.
“In the absence of direct evidence of criminal conspiracy,” the deputy in the AMA decision relied on the thesis of abuse of influence, “indirect evidence,” which the defense disputes, arguing that “without evidence of a crime, there are no coercive measures.” .
The appeal also states that “nothing in the records indicates a real and imminent risk of absconding” and that “economic opportunities, the children’s residence in different geographic regions and professional connections with Guinea (…) do not allow us to conclude that there is a specific risk of absconding “
This investigation became public after an operation carried out by the deputy on November 7, during which 42 searches were carried out and as a result five people were arrested: Vítor Escaria, Diogo Lacerda Machado, Start Campus administrators Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, and Mayor Siniça Nuno Mascarenhas.
In total, there are nine defendants in the case, including the now former Minister of Infrastructure João Galamba, the President of the Portuguese Environmental Agency Nuno Lacasta, lawyer, former Minister of Justice and former representative of the PS 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.
Prime Minister António Costa, who appears to have been involved in the matter, was the subject of an investigation launched by a member of the Supreme Court, a situation that forced him to resign and the President of the Republic to call early elections to the Supreme Court. March 10, 2024
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.