This Thursday, the IL President asked for caution with “hasty conclusions” regarding the court’s decision on Operation Influencer, given that “the time of justice must always be respected”, regardless of the advantage of one or another political side.
“The point we are at now is that instructional decisions have been made and those decisions have now been challenged by the Court of Appeal. These decisions do not have the nature of a final decision,” Rui Rocha responded to journalists in parliament when asked about the decision of the Lisbon Court of Appeal on Operation Influencer, which rejected the appeal of the prosecutor’s office, reduced the coercive measures against the defendants to the conditions of person and residence and understood that the evidence there are no crimes.
The IL leader resorted to a “phrase that has become famous in recent years,” which states that “the time of justice must be respected.”
“It should always be respected, whether it has an advantage for one political party or when it has an advantage for another political party. It is time to follow it with caution,” he urged.
According to Rui Rocha, “it would be useful if the General Prosecutor’s Office gave some clarification.”
“But I insist: be very careful about jumping to conclusions about the viability or ineffectiveness of a process based on training decisions,” he defended.
The Liberal president insisted these were “not final decisions” and therefore needed to be “cautious in making decisions and taking final positions on what are in fact preliminary decisions.”
Regarding the fact that former Prime Minister António Costa has still not been heard, Rui Rocha noted that the party is concerned with “quick and fair justice for all.”
“What I would find strange is that in a country where justice is slow for everyone, where justice often takes too long, there is a regime of exceptions for political officials,” he noted.