“The Supreme Court is playing with very serious matters. When a prosecutor says something like that, claiming that I have to prove my innocence in court, they should be removed from decision-making in the process. I think this is very reasonable, but they protect each other,” stated José Sócrates.
In statements to journalists outside the Justice Campus in Lisbon, following the fourth day of interrogation in the Operation Marquês trial, the former Prime Minister was asked about the Supreme Court of Justice’s (STJ) decision on the recusal request submitted on the first session day.
Within the context of the Operation Marquês trial, on July 3rd, Sócrates’ lawyer, Pedro Delille, argued that the trial could not proceed while this recusal request, targeting Amadeu Guerra, accused of intervening in the process through the team of prosecutors appointed to the case, remained undecided.
In the ruling known this afternoon, the STJ “considered that the exercise of the power to appoint the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the trial and the respective support team (…) falls within the managerial competencies of the PGR, thus not constituting an intervention in the process.”
“Why does the Supreme Court make this decision? Merely to protect the prosecutor,” he argued, insisting that the presumption of innocence was compromised.
José Sócrates was referring to statements by the Attorney General, Amadeu Guerra, who, in an interview with Observador at the end of June, said that one must “give Sócrates the opportunity to prove his innocence.”
“The judicial system should realize it must react to this, and it does not. It allows the prosecutor to make absolutely incredible statements, saying that an accused must now prove his innocence in court. I think this exceeds all limits,” he insisted.
Asked whether he considers the STJ partial, José Sócrates affirmed that he does and added, “If I believe the court is biased, I will file a complaint about it.”
José Sócrates is the main defendant in the Operation Marquês and is accused of 22 crimes, including three of passive corruption while holding political office, 13 of money laundering, and six of qualified tax fraud.
