During the anniversary session of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice refrained from commenting on specific cases, asserting the need to “trust the institutions, and the institutions must also deserve that respect and trust.”
In response to an RTP query regarding the specific case of Operation Influencer, where the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) disclosed today that it had identified seven wiretaps related to former Prime Minister António Costa that were not communicated to the Supreme Court of Justice “due to various technical reasons,” the Minister of Justice reiterated that “trust in impartial work is essential.”
“If any issue has occurred, there are bodies within the Superior Council of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Attorney General himself, who I am certain will take the necessary measures if there is any irregularity,” she stated.
Today, the PGR explained that a recent “new analysis of all the wiretaps conducted” during Operation Influencer uncovered seven wiretaps “involving Prime Minister António Costa as a participant, which had initially gone undetected due to various technical reasons.”
Of these seven wiretaps, six were attempted contacts, noted the PGR in the same statement, emphasizing that “all wiretaps conducted as part of these proceedings [Operation Influencer], without exception, were promptly submitted for periodic review by the Investigating Judge of the Central Criminal Instruction Court (TCIC).”
The seven wiretaps in question “were immediately brought to the attention of the president of the STJ through the TCIC investigating judge,” with the STJ president ruling “no longer competent in this matter due to António Costa’s current status as not being the prime minister.”
The Operation Influencer case was divided into three inquiries by former PGR Lucília Gago’s decision, aggregating data related to the Sines data center in one inquiry, lithium mining concessions in Montalegre and Boticas in another, and the hydrogen production plant project in Sines in a third.
The current PGR, Amadeu Guerra, on November 7, revealed that the case had a pending appeal in the Lisbon Court of Appeal concerning access to information in emails seized from lawyers, unaware the appeal had been decided in favor of the defendants, leaving the MP without access to those emails.
On November 7, 2023, five individuals, including Costa’s then-chief of staff, Vítor Escária, were detained and subsequently released as part of Operation Influencer.
There are suspicions of criminal activity concerning the construction of a data center in Sines, Setúbal district, lithium mining in Montalegre and Boticas, both in Vila Real district, and hydrogen energy production, also in Sines.
The case resulted in the collapse of the government of the now President of the European Council.
