The trial is set to commence at 09:30 on May 22 at the Judicial Court of Évora, according to the schedule available on the Citius platform, reviewed today by the Lusa agency.
This case has reached the trial phase following the instructional stage, where, in a decision made in October 2023, Judge Marcos Ramos determined that the former driver goes to trial, while the former minister Eduardo Cabrita and the then head of security, Nuno Dias, would not face charges.
Marco Pontes, the driver of the former Minister of Internal Administration, will consequently be the only one tried in a singular court, facing charges of gross negligent homicide.
The victim’s family and the Association of Self-Mobilized Citizens (ACA-M), who became assistants in the process, appealed the instructional decision, seeking to bring both the former Minister of Internal Administration and the then head of security to trial.
However, on June 18, 2024, the Évora Court of Appeal (TRE) dismissed the appeals, sustaining the instructional decision.
The incident dates back to June 18, 2021, when the official vehicle carrying Eduardo Cabrita and driven by Marco Pontes fatally struck Nuno Santos, a 43-year-old worker from a company maintaining the A6 motorway, at kilometer 77.6 on the Estremoz-Évora direction.
On December 3, 2021, the Public Prosecutor charged Marco Pontes with negligent homicide, coinciding with the then Minister of Internal Administration’s resignation that same day.
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