The 17th session of the Operation Pretoriano trial, held at the São João Novo Court in Porto, saw Lourenço Pinto, a current member of the ‘dragões’ Superior Council, stating that voting during the gathering was impossible due to the large turnout at the FC Porto general meeting.
“I decided we had to suspend the General Assembly. As soon as we left the auditorium, it was immediately postponed to November 20, 2023. The agenda was not compatible with the excess number of people. Voting would have made no sense. I announced in the auditorium that it was suspended, as it was a mandatory matter,” Pinto explained. He later cited the infeasibility of voting on 84 articles in detail in one night as the main reason for the postponement.
Despite the prospect of not voting on statute amendments, he accepted moving the proceedings to Dragão Arena, a decision he claims to have made out of “affection for the members” and “respect for their right to meet,” denying any responsibility for the choice despite his roles.
When confronted by FC Porto’s lawyer Sofia Branco, an assistant in the process, with the general meeting minutes mentioning a “voting attempt,” the former president of the Porto Football Association reiterated that no matter was put to a vote.
Contradicting previous inquiries, he denied receiving any reports that safety conditions were insufficient for the meeting to continue at the sports venue.
“Nobody informed me there were no conditions; it’s all nonsense. It all started very well without any incident during Pinto da Costa’s speech, who even questioned some of the amendments, but the assembly was always well-behaved, except for a few ‘quips’, which is usual,” he defended.
Only following Henrique Ramos’ speech, which referred to the club’s branches, did he identify a surge in tension at Dragão Arena and ended proceedings.
“The first time I saw a confrontational situation was then, and I immediately suspended it. A few quips are normal; disrespect and aggression are not tolerable,” he emphasized.
However, he identified a “vast difference” between the number of people who went through the normal accreditation process and the total attendance at the pavilion, providing the Police of Public Security with the list of credentialed members through the club’s services.
Lourenço Pinto’s testimony, lasting about two hours, was also marked by a confrontation with the presiding judge, who considered some of his responses to the court to be “bordering on rudeness and disobedience.”
“I admire that you ask me that question. I was already conducting the General Assembly when you [the judge] weren’t born,” said the former president of FC Porto’s General Assembly Table before being reprimanded, apologizing at the end of his testimony.
The Operation Pretoriano trial resumes next Wednesday, June 11. The 12 defendants, including the former leader of the Super Dragões Fernando Madureira, began answering to 31 charges at the São João Novo Court in Porto on March 17, under heavy police presence in the vicinity.
The case involves 19 aggravated coercion and threat crimes, seven related to bodily harm at a sports event, one of public incitement to a crime, another of throwing objects or liquid products, and three related to the violation of freedom of information, centered around an FC Porto General Assembly in November 2023.
Of the dozen defendants, Fernando Madureira is the only one held in pre-trial detention, the most severe preventive measure, while the rest have been released at various stages.
