“There is no proof of receipt, acceptance of 99,600 euros, or even a single euro,” stated André Fontes during the closing arguments at the Vila Nova de Gaia Court, in the Porto district.
The Public Ministry (MP) requested a prison sentence of eight to twelve years for former mayor Patrocínio Azevedo.
Patrocínio Azevedo, who was in preventive detention for approximately 23 months, is one of the 16 defendants in Operation Babel, which is related to the alleged tampering and violation of municipal licensing norms and processes in Gaia.
The former vice-president is accused of numerous economic crimes, including corruption and influence peddling, alongside real estate businessmen Paulo Malafaia and Elad Dror, founder of the Fortera group, and lawyer João Pedro Lopes.
The MP alleges that Elad Dror and Paulo Malafaia agreed to develop real estate projects in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia, specifically those named Skyline/Cultural and Congress Center, Riverside, and Hotel Azul, with the alleged favoring by the former vice-president of Gaia, who in return would receive money and material goods, such as watches.
Criticizing the MP harshly, Patrocínio Azevedo’s lawyer insisted that there is not a single interception indicating that Azevedo requested “even a cent.”
“Engineer Patrocínio Azevedo, if he were not so eager, would not be here; he is here because he tried to solve people’s problems, he wanted to solve an issue and was accused of having a corrupt pact,” he emphasized.
André Fontes reminded that the former vice-president of Gaia endured suffering, finding it inconceivable that someone could be imprisoned for nearly two years on the presumption of receiving money.
“The Public Ministry, in its closing arguments, starts by admitting it has no direct evidence, suggesting the need to resort to indirect evidence,” he highlighted.
He further added that the MP confuses a pact of silence with the lack of evidence.
“What we see in this case is a total lack of evidence of a corrupt pact by engineer Patrocínio Azevedo,” he concluded.
The Gaia City Hall, currently led by social-democrat Luís Filipe Menezes, who returned to the city hall after 12 years of socialist leadership, withdrew as an assistant in the case and from the request for compensation of 50,000 euros.
