During final arguments at the Tribunal de São João Novo in Porto, the lawyer for former leader of the Super Dragões supporters group, Gonçalo Cerejeira Namora, asserted that the prosecution did not act with the intention of “seeking the truth.”
“The work of the Public Prosecutor is not to secure convictions or to defend baseless theories. Their duty is the search for truth, which was not evident here. From the choice of witnesses to the questions asked, they showed a total lack of understanding of different sociological realities,” he stated, following the prosecution’s request for prison sentences exceeding five years for Fernando and Sandra Madureira, along with four other defendants.
The legal representative of Fernando Madureira assured that there was no prior planning of the disturbances at the FC Porto General Assembly (AG) in November 2023, claiming that the board members themselves only learned of the meeting’s venue change on the day of the event.
“There is no evidence of a premeditated plan. It is not a crime to support a candidate or campaign, but the prosecution stigmatized those who supported Pinto da Costa, labeling them as criminals,” he argued, also highlighting that several witnesses presented by the prosecution stigmatized members of the Super Dragões as being from a “low social strata, uneducated and poorly dressed.”
He also criticized what he considered to be sensationalism by the media in covering the trial.
“They selected what they wanted to make Fernando Madureira a target. The media, especially the sensationalist, only succeeded in amplifying a narrative to fuel a soap opera. They fed an audience with hatred. Journalists, from editorial teams to fieldwork, did not honor their commitments,” he assessed.
The lawyer linked the case to André Villas-Boas, stating that the current president of FC Porto is the sole major beneficiary from the prosecution’s allegations, reiterating that the statutory revision, if approved, would not benefit his client or the then-current board led by Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa.
“The prosecution chose witnesses from a group of friends and acquaintances at the request of the opposing list [of André Villas-Boas]. The cousin of a current vice-president of FC Porto [João Begonha Borges] was the main recruiter of witnesses, which demonstrates the limitations of the accusation,” he concluded.
Earlier, the arguments of Sandra Madureira took place, with her representative, Miguel Marques Oliveira, criticizing the fact that it is a joint accusation framed in a sporting phenomenon, something he disagrees with as it concerns a “private law” AG.
The lawyer argued that the accusation is based on assumptions rather than facts, asserting that his client “never had any direct or indirect involvement” in the preparation of the disturbances at the general meeting.
In the afternoon, the lawyers for Henrique Ramos, an assistant in the case, and Vítor ‘Catão’ also intervened, with the arguments set to continue on Tuesday.
The 12 defendants of Operation Pretoriano, including the former leader of Super Dragões Fernando Madureira, started facing 31 charges on March 17 at the Tribunal de São João Novo in Porto, under heightened police presence in the vicinity.
The charges include 19 crimes of aggravated coercion and threat, seven of physical assault within a sports event, one of public incitement to a crime, another of object or liquid throwing, and three of infringement on freedom of information, related to an FC Porto AG in November 2023.
Among the dozen defendants, Fernando Madureira is the only one in pre-trial detention, the harshest preventive measure, while the others have been released at different stages.
