The National Director of the Judicial Police (PJ) said this Wednesday that the institution is “comfortable” with the effective support it provides to the Ministry of State, minimizing the fact that PJ has only now been called to the powerful persons task force.
“Today, the judicial police feel very comfortable thanks to the effective support that we provide to the Ministry of State,” said Luis Neves, stressing that the Attorney General of the Republic did not ask him for special speed.
“No specific request was made to me, but it is not correct to make public the conversations with the Attorney General,” said the director of the joint venture on the sidelines of a ceremony honoring the institution by the League of Portuguese Firefighters (LBP). .
Luis Neves stated that “a criminal defendant has the sovereignty to choose the path he intends to take for his investigation,” adding that “the SP knows very well what his role is and what his path is, which must be available at all times.” the best means of effectively assisting the judiciary, in this case the Ministry of State.”
“At the moment when the Attorney General of the Republic, Dr. Lucilia Gago, realized that it was necessary to formalize this structure, which was divided at the end of last week, the judicial police simply had to say, as they always will: “Yes, we are the present,” explained He.
The role of the SP, he said, is to integrate “judicial assistance,” a process that must “materialize from an effective point of view” of investigations.
“Today we are calmer, more optimistic,” thanks to the available human resources and investigative resources, added the leader of the joint venture, recalling that “speed, knowledge and knowledge are the cornerstones” of any investigation.
On Thursday, the Republic’s Attorney General announced the creation of a mixed team to support investigations related to the Operation Influential Man process, which includes inspectors from the Judicial Police, the Tax Administration and the PSP.
Operation Influencer, which resulted in the arrest of five people and the dismissal of Prime Minister António Costa on November 7, was coordinated by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Affairs (DCIAP) and initially had the support of the PSP and AT. but not from the judicial police.
As a result of the operation, the head of the administration of Antonio Costa, Vitor Escaria, the lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado, the administrators of the Start Campus company Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, as well as the mayor of Sines Nuno Mascarenhas were arrested.
In addition to them, there are four other defendants in the case, including former Minister of Infrastructure João Galamba, President of the Portuguese Environmental Agency Nuno Lacasta, lawyer, former Secretary of State for Justice and former PS representative João Tiago. Silveira and 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
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