At the conclusion of the 10th session of the trial at the São João Novo Courthouse in Porto, Judge Ana Dias Costa deemed the presence of the FC Porto official “unnecessary” for providing the necessary clarifications.
The request had emerged with the intention of confronting Villas-Boas with a video submitted to the court records, in which he allegedly instructed members to pass their membership cards if they could not attend the polls, to vote in the elections where he eventually succeeded Pinto da Costa.
The hearings resumed today after a three-week hiatus due to one of the auxiliary judges being on medical leave and will continue on Tuesday.
The 12 defendants involved in Operation Pretoriano, including the former leader of Super Dragões, Fernando Madureira, began answering to 31 charges on March 17 at the São João Novo Courthouse in Porto amid heavy police presence in the vicinity.
The charges include 19 counts of coercion and aggravated threat, seven of bodily harm within the context of a sports event, one of public incitement to a crime, another for the throwing of objects or liquid products, and three for attempting to infringe on freedom of information, centered around an FC Porto General Assembly in November 2023.
Among the dozen defendants, Fernando Madureira is the only one in pre-trial detention, the strictest preventive measure, while the others have been released at various stages.
