The former Prime Minister, António Costa, has been unsuccessfully requesting access to case files in which he is involved in the scope of Operation Influencer for over a year. Despite the first request being made before the case was subjected to legal confidentiality, the Public Prosecutor’s Office clarified on Friday that the decree inherently prevents “access to the process, making it irrelevant whether requests for access were previously submitted by involved parties or otherwise.”
The case was highlighted, noting that the current President of the European Council has been attempting for over a year to access the case files, with the first of four requests initially submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office before the imposition of legal confidentiality.
In fact, the first request occurred in early April 2024, after the case left the Supreme Court of Justice. At that time, prosecutor Rita Madeira was in charge of the process, and it was this magistrate who denied the consultation to António Costa. However, the case only became confidential at the end of May, after the investigating judge approved a motion from the Public Prosecutor’s Office dated April 17, postdating the first consultation demand.
António Costa was later heard voluntarily as a declarant and made three additional access requests, all rejected with the same reasoning.
Nonetheless, the Public Prosecutor’s Office clarified to Lusa that the date of submission is irrelevant to the decision to deny the consultation request.
“Legally, once confidentiality is imposed, process access is not allowed, making prior submission of access requests irrelevant by involved parties or otherwise,” stated the Attorney General’s Office.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has denied the former Prime Minister António Costa access to the investigative files in Operation Influencer on four occasions, citing “confidentiality.” The initial request preceded the confidentiality decree.
In another clarification, the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) recalled that the inquiry involving António Costa remained with the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Supreme Court of Justice – where it was processed because of his status as a sitting Prime Minister under investigation – until April 10, 2024, and reached the DCIAP on April 12.
“By order dated 17.04.2024, the magistrate determined the application of the confidentiality regime to the case files, and judicial validation was requested. As a result of this determination, the consultation request by António Costa, entered at the DCIAP upon the distribution of the inquiry, was denied, and the applicant was notified of the Public Prosecutor’s decision,” it states.
The body complemented that the Public Prosecutor’s Office decision to apply confidentiality to the inquiry “was judicially validated” and that “this inquiry is still subject to internal and external confidentiality, thus not subject to consultation.”
“In the so-called ‘Universo Influencer’, there has never been any stalled inquiry. All are ongoing. All analyzable documentation is being reviewed by team members. It is emphasized that the inquiries are in different investigation phases, with some segments quite advanced,” it noted.
The process was divided into three inquiries by the decision of the then Attorney General, Lucília Gago, who decided to aggregate data related to the datacenter in Sines into one inquiry, concerning lithium exploration concessions in Montalegre and Boticas into a second, and the hydrogen production project in Sines into a third.
The DCIAP pointed out that “there are still proof segments inaccessible to the investigation, given the procedural requirements or exercise of defense rights by the targeted individuals – right to appeal and complaint -, especially concerning lawyers’ e-mails.”
Today, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) stated that a consultation request prior to the confidentiality decree in Operation Influencer is irrelevant for denying file access to former Prime Minister António Costa.
Prosecutor-General Amadeu Guerra said on November 7 that the process had a pending appeal at the Lisbon Court of Appeals relating to access to emails seized from lawyers, being unaware that the appeal had already been ruled, siding with the defendants and leaving the MP without access to those emails.
The Attorney General’s Office further recalled that the files were declared urgent even before the separation of the process into three inquiries, which declaration was renewed after the separation of the files, “which remains current” and “requires that procedural acts be conducted during judicial holidays, without suspending deadlines, which has occurred in this case.”
On November 7, 2023, it is noted that five people, including the former Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Vítor Escária, were arrested and later released.
The case involves suspicions of a crime in the construction of a data center in Sines, Setúbal district, lithium exploration in Montalegre and Boticas, both in Vila Real district, and hydrogen energy production also in Sines.
The case led to the downfall of António Costa’s government, with the now President of the European Council considered a suspect, without being formally charged.
