Francisco J. Marques admits appeal to the European Court in the Benfica emails case

The director of public relations of FC Porto, Francisco J. Marques, admitted this Wednesday that he has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights due to the increased sentence imposed by the Lisbon court in the case of the disclosure of Benfica emails.

“This case of mine will go to the European Court of Human Rights, I have no doubt about it,” Francisco J. Marques told news agency Lusa a day after the Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL) sentenced him to two years and six months in prison , with a suspended sentence, a sentence of one year and 10 months’ imprisonment, imposed at first instance in June last year.

TRL’s decision followed an appeal filed by Benfica, which assisted in the process. According to Benfica’s lawyers, this decision once again confirms that “everything is not and cannot be worth everything.”

“The dismissal of the defendants’ appeal and the validity of our appeal, with the consequent worsening of the defendants’ conviction, enhances the satisfaction that the verdict of the first instance has already given us, confirming now that it is not and cannot be worth everything,” said lawyers João Medeiros, Paulo Zaragoza da Matta and Rui Patricio in a statement sent to Lusa.

Francisco J. Marques admitted that he had not yet read the Lisbon Relations ruling, but praised the justice system, regretting that it does not always work with the same speed.

“We must praise the Portuguese justice for its speed (the issue is complex, with heavy arguments on both sides, and the court was successful: the case came to trial in mid-December, while there was a judicial holiday, and the case went to trial a month later) . decided). It’s a pity that justice is not so fast in investigating fraud on the part of Benfica, almost seven years have passed and there has not even been an indictment yet,” he said.

On Tuesday, TRL also increased the sentence of Diogo Faria, content director of Porto Canal, from nine months to one year and five months in prison, suspended after judges considered the offense against a corporate entity. aggravated in relation to Benfica, namely the publication of the book “O Polvo Encarnado”.

“Defendants Francisco Marquez and Diogo Faria knew that they had no serious reason to believe as true facts that they knew were untrue and damaging to the good name of the assistants, but, nevertheless, they wanted to make them public through the publication of a book.” , says the ruling, which Lusa had access to.

On June 12, 2023, the director of public relations of FC Porto was sentenced to one year and 10 months of suspended imprisonment (in addition to the statutory penalty) for aggravated violation of correspondence or telecommunications and an offense against a legal person. In the same case, Diogo Faria was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for one year, for violation of correspondence or telecommunications.

Last September, Benfica appealed the decision in the Porto channel email disclosure case, despite the partial acquittal of FC Porto directors, arguing that Francisco J. Márquez and Diogo Faria should be “convicted on all charges.” crimes of which they were charged and found guilty,” and the accused filed an appeal challenging the legality of Benfica’s complaint.

The email disclosure case dates back to 2017 and 2018, when contacts between elements associated with the Benfica structure and third parties were revealed in the program “Universo Porto – da Bench” on the Porto channel.