Former Prime Minister José Sócrates announced on Tuesday that he has “new information” to present to the court in the Marquês Operation trial, specifically regarding the high-speed train project. Sócrates claims this information will “further demonstrate” the “false” nature of the charges against him.
“Today, I will return to the high-speed train (TGV) and its fabrication, as I have new information to provide to the court, the result of my own inquiries,” he stated to the media at the entrance of the Campus of Justice in Lisbon.
He added, “They will further show how absolutely absurd and fanciful, to use the term employed by the examining judge, the accusations against me are in this domain and how profoundly unjust they have been, not only for me, but for Lena company and all others involved.”
Upon arriving at the court, Sócrates reiterated that “this trial only exists because of fraud, due to a writing lapse.”
“This trial is an attempt at humiliation. If this writing lapse had not been fabricated or invented – because it never happened – it wouldn’t have changed the crime, it wouldn’t have altered the penal framework, and they wouldn’t have manipulated the statute of limitations, and the trial wouldn’t happen (…) This is the trial of the writing lapse,” he criticized.
The former prime minister also stated that in the initial sessions of the trial, he presented “witness evidence that shows the charges are false and absurd.”
The trial of the Marquês Operation resumes today, the day courts fully resume after a month and a half of judicial holidays. Former Prime Minister José Sócrates, who is the main defendant in this case involving 21 defendants charged with 117 crimes of corruption, money laundering, and tax fraud, is expected to continue his initial statements.
The Marquês Operation trial began on July 3, with the panel led by Judge Susana Seca hearing the socialist former prime minister’s initial statements during three of the four sessions held.
[News in update]
