The Chega party deputy Cristina Rodrigues has been accused of committing a crime related to the damage of computer programs or other data, according to the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), as reported by Visão.
The document described the nature of the alleged crime as “very serious,” yet noted that “the penalty imposed on Cristina Rodrigues should not exceed five years due to her lack of criminal history.”
The complaint was filed by the PAN party, with which Cristina Rodrigues was previously affiliated, serving as a legal advisor until June 25, 2021.
PAN lodged a criminal complaint accusing Rodrigues of accessing and deleting emails after she left the party to become an independent deputy.
The MP stated that “Cristina Rodrigues acted freely, deliberately, and with awareness, accessing the email messages at cr****************@*****om.pt and deleting them at a time when she no longer had authorization to access the said email,” as reported by the same source. According to the accusation, Rodrigues’s intention was “to prevent the PAN party from continuing its political activities.”
“According to the mentioned contract, it was the responsibility of the PAN Party to provide Cristina Rodrigues with adequate work tools. She was expected to use them prudently, while also being obliged to maintain confidentiality and secrecy regarding matters, information, and documents she encountered due to her role, as well as to ensure the integrity of any contents she accessed,” reveals the indictment, according to Visão.
Following the accusation, a request was made to lift parliamentary immunity for the case to proceed in the Assembleia da República.
[News updated at 18:41]
