The former prime minister, who continues to testify today in the Operation Marquês trial at the Campus of Justice in Lisbon, stated that he only met the administrator of the Lena group, Joaquim Barroca, at a PS campaign dinner in 2009, dining at the same table.
He said he did not know anyone from the Lena group administration and had no contact with Joaquim Barroca after that occasion.
After stepping down as prime minister, he facilitated contacts with the Luanda Government “between 2011 and 2014, before being arrested due to flight risk,” during which time, he claimed, several companies asked him to intercede with foreign entities and personalities.
“Something I always did, because I felt it was my duty if I could be of assistance,” Sócrates stated.
In this context, he admitted to interceding with the Vice President of Angola to receive representatives of the Lena group, a Portuguese company, “people to whom I owed attention.”
“What a thing to say! To the prosecutor [Rosário Teixeira], it sounded like a confession of corruption,” Sócrates remarked with irony, previously noting with sarcasm the fact that he was confronted in the inquiry with an institutional Christmas card from the Lena group, found during searches, which the former prime minister said was pointed out to him as a personal contact with Joaquim Barroca.
Prosecutor Rui Real ultimately requested additional clarifications on these statements, asking José Sócrates to present to the court a list of companies for whom he facilitated contacts, the people he contacted, and the objectives achieved.
In response, José Sócrates mentioned the Spinumviva case and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, expressing reluctance to invoke the principle cited by the current prime minister of refusing to name the companies, offering to provide a list of companies at the next session, but stating that he needs their authorization, as they may “not want their name dragged” into the process.
Eleven years after José Sócrates’ arrest at Lisbon airport, the Operation Marquês trial began last Thursday, bringing the former prime minister and 20 other defendants to court with more than 650 witnesses.
A total of 117 crimes, including corruption, money laundering, and tax fraud, are under scrutiny, for which the 21 defendants will stand trial. Currently, 53 sessions have been scheduled, extending until the end of this year, with future sessions to be arranged. During this trial, 225 witnesses for the prosecution and about 20 for the defense of each of the 21 defendants will be heard.
