“I am completely calm, although astonished and outraged [by the news]. If it comes from someone connected to the process, it is a disgrace,” stated Luís Montenegro on Tuesday, reacting to a report from CNN Portugal suggesting there was a “conviction” that an investigation should be opened against Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in the Spinumviva case.
It should be noted that the Attorney General’s Office clarified that the preliminary inquiry related to the company Spinumviva is ongoing and that the Public Prosecutor’s Office is still awaiting documentation, so the investigation continues and there is, as of now, “no formed conviction that would allow the closure of the mentioned preliminary inquiry, nor has anything been proposed to the Attorney General of the Republic in this domain.”
“I do not accept this in any way,” continued the prime minister, in statements to television networks. “I do not know the source of this news, but I know that I have provided all the clarifications that are requested. The rest is a disgrace, I will repeat, a disgrace.”
Montenegro also spoke of “obscure maneuvers” by unidentified individuals, but assured that “everything can be clarified” at a later time. “In democracy, it is natural for there to be vulnerabilities, and this is one of them: launching accusations, suspicions, insinuations from unidentified sources,” he criticized.
[News in update]
