Since the start of his testimony in the Operation Marquês trial, José Sócrates has consistently asserted he did not have Ricardo Salgado’s phone number and maintained that they were not friends nor visited each other’s homes.
The previous session played recordings of conversations between Sócrates and Salgado, where invitations for lunch or dinner were discussed. Sócrates denied attending these, including a dinner at the former Banco Espírito Santo (BES) president’s home. During today’s session, prosecutor Rui Real aimed to prove this dinner took place by presenting two recordings involving former driver João Perna, who is also a defendant in the case.
In the first recording, João Perna complains about a long day ending after midnight when Sócrates was leaving the ex-banker’s house. In another call the following day, the former driver reiterated the previous long day’s events, stating he was kept waiting for Sócrates until around that time.
“That police investigation seems very interesting, but I will disappoint you; I stayed until 10:00 PM and went to another house in Estoril, which I won’t specify,” said Sócrates, accusing the prosecutor of turning the wiretapping into a “vaudeville.”
Sócrates emphasized he only visited Ricardo Salgado’s residence to deliver a book, which took approximately half an hour.
Regarding his ties with Salgado, the prosecution revisited the issue of whether Sócrates had the ex-banker’s phone number or a close relationship with him. They played a phone interception between the former Prime Minister and José Maria Ricciardi, a former BES International executive and Salgado’s cousin, where Sócrates referred to Salgado simply as “Ricardo,” stating he was a “very good friend.”
Recordings with Sócrates’ secretary were played, where he asked her to contact Salgado, and she mentioned a special number meant for the former Prime Minister’s exclusive use.
In court, Sócrates claimed the call proved he didn’t have Salgado’s phone number in his contacts and required his secretary to retrieve it for him when he changed phones.
He further explained that the specific number for his use was simply a reserved line not to be shared with others, rather than a direct line to the ex-banker.
The afternoon session also featured complaints from the defense regarding incomplete access to the case files on the Citius digital platform.
Sócrates, attempting to offer solutions to resolve the technological impasse, commented: “I tried to contribute to a procedural acceleration… This [creation and implementation of Citius] started during my time, must have been Sócrates’ fault.”
Eleven years after José Sócrates’ arrest at Lisbon airport, the Operation Marquês trial commenced last Thursday, involving the former Prime Minister and 20 other defendants, with over 650 witnesses expected to be called.
The trial addresses 117 crimes, including corruption, money laundering, and tax fraud, for which the 21 defendants are being tried. Initially, 53 sessions are planned to run until the end of the year, with additional sessions to be scheduled in the future. The prosecution will call 225 witnesses, while the defense for each of the 21 defendants will call around 20 witnesses.
