A recent judicial order, accessed by Lusa, indicates that medical reports and legal-medical evaluations concerning Ricardo Salgado, included in the case files, suggest that “in a context of emotional pressure (such as during a trial), an aggravation of the symptoms associated with the said condition is expected.”
The judicial order states that “(…) this situation does not rule out a grave inconvenience in the defendant’s attendance at trial sessions”. It emphasizes that attending the trial “constitutes not just an obligation but also a right,” whether to provide statements or remain silent, and adds that Salgado’s justified absence does not “constitute grounds for postponing the trial.”
The order also preserves “the right to provide statements at a later time”, should the defendant choose to do so.
The request for Ricardo Salgado’s exemption from attending trial sessions was submitted on April 23, with only the Public Prosecutor’s Office opposing it and requesting its rejection, as outlined in the order.
Contacted by Lusa, Ricardo Salgado’s defense opted not to comment on this judicial decision.
Ricardo Salgado, currently on trial in the main case surrounding the BES/GES universe, examining the bank’s and the economic group’s collapse a decade ago, was excused from attending the trial sessions after participating in the inaugural session.
In the BESA case, set to begin at the Campus of Justice in Lisbon on Monday, Ricardo Salgado and the former president of the bank’s Angolan branch, Álvaro Sobrinho, face charges of breach of trust, fraud, and money laundering.
The case primarily involves the alleged diversion of funds between 2007 and 2012 from a BES financing to BES Angola through Interbank Money Market (MMI) credit lines and bank overdrafts.
Álvaro Sobrinho, aged 62, faces charges from the Public Prosecutor’s Office for 18 crimes of aggravated breach of trust and five crimes of money laundering, while Ricardo Salgado, aged 80, is accused of five crimes of breach of trust and one of qualified fraud.
BES went bankrupt in the summer of 2014, while BES Angola was liquidated in October of the same year.
