President of the Union of Judicial Workers says the evolution of the Influencer process is ‘unnatural’

The President of the Union of Judicial Servants (SFJ) considered this Thursday that the development of the process of influence is “unnatural”, but recalled that former Prime Minister António Costa was responsible for the appointment of the Attorney General of the Republic.

Speaking to reporters before going to a meeting at the Ministry of Justice, António Marsal expressed concern “as a citizen and as an employee of the system” about the latest developments in the case, a day after the Lisbon Court of Appeal rejected the decision of the Public Prosecutor’s Office applying for enforcement measures and stated that there was no evidence of crimes.

“It is normal for a deputy to conduct an investigation and then the judge finds that it does not correspond to his analysis, this is how the justice system works. Then, specifically on the issue of the powerful person and what led to the resignation of the Prime Minister, so I say it is unnatural. Is the dismissal of Antonio Costa also related to the investigation into the case of an influential person?” – he asked.

“Why did the PGR decide, in an unprecedented moment, to include a paragraph in an investigation report in which António Costa was not a defendant? This question needs to be asked of PGR. But it is worth reminding citizens that the PGR is an appointed political authority; it is the Prime Minister who presents the name of the PR, and it is worth remembering that António Costa proposed the name of Lucília Gago when everyone thought that the previous prosecutor would be reappointed. [Joana Marques Vidal]”, he emphasized.

The work of the previous legislature was interrupted by the dismissal of António Costa as prime minister after it was revealed that he was the subject of an investigation launched into the parliament by the Supreme Court after a certificate was extracted from a criminal case. Operation Influential Man.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, accepted the resignation and two days later announced to the country the dissolution of parliament and the calling of elections, which took place on March 10, giving the majority to the Democratic Alliance coalition, which brings together PSD, CDS-PP and /PPM.

Operation Influential Man at the time led to the arrest of Vitor Escaria (Chief of Staff to António Costa), Diogo Lacerda Machado (consultant and friend of António Costa), Start Campus administrators Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, as well as Chamber of Sines President Nuno Mascarenhas, who were released after judicial questioning.

There are other defendants, including the now former Minister of Infrastructure João Galamba, the former President of the Portuguese Environmental Agency Nuno Lacasta, the former PS representative João Thiago Silveira and Start Campus.

The case relates to a data center project in the industrial and logistics area of ​​Sines near the Start Campus, the production of energy from hydrogen in Sines and lithium exploration in the Vila Real area, in Montalegre and Botica.