On Friday, Parliament issued subpoenas to the President of the Republic, former Prime Minister António Costa and former President of the Assembly of the Republic Augusto Santos Silva to testify before the commission of inquiry into the twins’ case.
The information was confirmed to Lusa today by an official source in the office of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, and the chairman of the investigation commission, Chegi’s deputy, Rui Paulo Sousa.
The chairman of the commission of inquiry explained to Lusa that he had asked the President of the Assembly of the Republic to notify the President of the Republic, the former Prime Minister and the former President of the Assembly of the Republic – this is a formality – and who had sent “the draft with the articles on which” the commission was based.
Rui Paulo Sousa noted that the President of the Republic can decide whether or not to give explanations to the inquiry commission. If you decide to do so, it can be in person or in writing. In the case of António Costa and Santos Silva, they will have to indicate whether they want to give evidence to the inquiry commission in person or in writing.
The commission’s chairman said that if Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, António Costa and Augusto Santos Silva decide to appear before the inquiry commission, dates for the relevant hearings will be set. If they wish to send clarifications in writing, “parliamentary groups will have to ask the various questions they want answered,” which will then be sent.
On Friday, the chairman of the commission investigating the case of the Portuguese-Brazilian twins who received the drug Zolgensma indicated that notices of questioning of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Augusto Santos Silva and Antonio Costa would be sent on the same day or as early as this week.
According to the Legal Regime of Parliamentary Investigations, “the President of the Republic, as well as former Presidents of the Republic, by virtue of facts of which they have become aware in the exercise of their functions and in connection with them, have the right, if they wish, to testify before a parliamentary inquiry committee, and in this case, if they prefer, it is their prerogative to do so in writing.”
“The President of the Assembly of the Republic, the former Presidents of the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister and former Prime Ministers also enjoy the prerogative to give evidence in writing, if they prefer, which they send to the committee, within 10 days from the date of the communication of the facts on which the statement is to be made, a sworn statement stating everything they know about the said facts,” the legislation adds.
The request for testimony from the President of the Republic was approved on June 4 by the commission investigating the case of the treatment of Portuguese-Brazilian twins. The request for a hearing of former Prime Minister António Costa was approved on June 21, and the hearing of Augusto Santos Silva, as former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was approved on July 3.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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