Pedro Calado, the former mayor of Funchal, returned to Madeira this Saturday and says the way he returns is “very different” from when he left.
He adds that he will focus on his private life and that he has “no intentions of holding public office.”
He clarifies that he “understands the work of the prosecutor’s office and that “each side did its job,” and also says that “there was as much time for justice as necessary.”
“We always want to cooperate on all the issues that need to be raised,” says Pedro Calado, expressing his gratitude to all the PSP agents and prison officials, as well as the investigating judge, who “did a tireless job.”
“We are convinced and confident that we have not committed illegal actions. (…) And this has been demonstrated, it has been confirmed. We will continue to express our innocence. We never commit illegal actions in trials, friendship is not mixed with professional situations,” said Pedro Calado in an interview with various media at Madeira-Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport after the plane he was on from Lisbon landed.
The former mayor stressed that during his detention there was “time to collect evidence, there was time to present, there was time to analyze”, given that the investigating judge did an “exemplary job” as he “had time to analyze everything that was in progress”
The former mayor of Funchal was detained for 21 days as part of a corruption operation in Madeira and was released on Wednesday with an identity document and residence permit.