The Supreme Court of Justice is set to begin the trial of the ‘Processo Lex’ in October. Aiming to align the schedules of those involved in the proceedings, the presiding justice has indicated possible dates for the start of the hearing as October 15, 22, or 29. The final date will be established after the judicial holidays, according to the court’s statement.
The initial session and the final sessions for arguments are to be held in the Supreme Court’s hearing room, with subsequent sessions planned for the Military Court’s hearing room in Lisbon, taking place every Tuesday and Wednesday each week.
On May 14, the Supreme Court appointed a new panel of judges for the Operation Lex trial and highlighted serious constraints due to the high number of judges nearing retirement.
In a statement sent to the media, the Supreme Court clarified that the case, involving 16 defendants, including former appellate judges Vaz das Neves and Rui Rangel, and former Benfica executive Luís Filipe Vieira, was reassigned in March. However, the presiding judge, Jorge dos Reis Bravo, requested retirement.
With this retirement, an electronic draw held on May 13 selected a new panel composed of lead justice José Piedade and associate justices Ernesto Nascimento and Jorge Gonçalves, two of whom were part of the prior panel.
In the context of Operation Lex, the Attorney General’s charges include crimes of corruption, abuse of power, improper receipt of benefits, tax fraud, money laundering, document forgery, and misconduct.
The investigation, led by Deputy Attorney General Maria José Morgado, now retired, concentrated on the actions of Rui Rangel, Fátima Galante, and Luis Vaz das Neves, who, according to the charges, exploited their positions at the Lisbon Court of Appeal for personal or third-party gains.
The Operation Lex case came to light on January 30, 2018, with the detention of five individuals and over 30 searches. It originated from a document extracted from the “Operation Atlantic Route” case, involving football entrepreneur José Veiga, suspected of crimes such as international trade corruption, money laundering, tax fraud, and influence peddling.
