The session of the Operação Marquês trial on Tuesday was marked by the resignation of José Sócrates’ lawyer, Pedro Delille. However, there were other controversial hearings, with a former secretary revealing she received cash delivered by a driver and a former minister asserting there was insistence on Armando Vara joining Caixa Geral de Depósitos.
This morning, Pedro Delille renounced his mandate as the defender of the former prime minister, and the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon ordered the appointment of a court-appointed lawyer to ensure the defense of the former official.
In the application sent to the court, Pedro Delille described the trial as a “mock trial” and justified his resignation on “ethical reasons,” following the collective of judges’ decision to report his professional conduct to the Bar Association for presuming a delayed start and arriving late to a previous session.
“I became definitively and absolutely convinced, after last Thursday’s episode, which adds to everything else that was previously denounced, that continuing in this trial imposes unbearable violence on my conscience as a lawyer and the ethics I impose on myself, my independence, integrity, and professional and personal dignity,” he stated.
“I repudiate and refuse to participate in or validate, even for one more minute, this mock trial, this ‘pretend trial,'” he concluded.
José Sócrates also accused the presiding judge of undermining his defense and mistreating his lawyer.
“The hostility of the court towards my lawyer reached an unbearable point for his professional dignity,” wrote José Sócrates in a statement, adding that Pedro Delille will continue to represent him “in ongoing international cases.”
Maria Gouveia | 12:29 – 04/11/2025
Despite the resignation, the trial continued with court-appointed lawyer José Ramos, who requested 48 hours to review the case but was denied by the presiding judge.
In today’s hearing, Maria João Santos, a former secretary of José Sócrates, admitted the former prime minister paid her for services with cash delivered by the driver, João Perna.
The informal service provision occurred in 2013, after the head of government between 2005 and 2011 returned from Paris (France) and asked the secretary, a Socialist Party (PS) employee, to take an unpaid leave.
Luís Campos e Cunha, one of José Sócrates’ finance ministers, confirmed that the former prime minister insisted “from the start” that Armando Vara be appointed to the administration of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).
“From the beginning, engineer José Sócrates urged me to dismiss the administration of Caixa Geral de Depósitos and appoint Armando Vara,” stated Luís Campos e Cunha during the Operação Marquês trial, clarifying that the intention was to appoint Carlos Santos Ferreira as president and Armando Vara as vice-president.
The Minister of State and Finance from March to July 2005 emphasized that although it was not illegal, there were “ethical considerations” to consider, and he did not want to create ‘jobs for the boys’.
The prosecution asserts that José Sócrates and Armando Vara, who ended up being appointed CGD administrator in late 2005, were bribed a total of two million euros by two Vale do Lobo resort investors to benefit the luxury development.
The allegation is based on the assumption that Armando Vara was appointed to the administration on José Sócrates’ instructions, a claim the former prime minister refuted as false during the September 4 trial session.
José Sócrates, Armando Vara, and the two Vale do Lobo investors are four of the 21 defendants in the Operação Marquês, mostly facing charges of corruption and money laundering.
The 21 defendants have generally denied the 117 economic-financial crimes collectively charged by the prosecution.
The trial began on July 3 at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon and has sessions scheduled at least until December 18, 2025.
