The former prime minister asked to be excused this afternoon by the panel presided over by Judge Susana Seco, stating that he needs to travel to Brazil for academic reasons.
Earlier in the morning, José Sócrates announced he decided not to continue speaking due to fatigue, postponing the rest of his testimony before the panel of judges.
“I cannot continue like this; this cannot last forever. I have decided that I will not make any more statements from today,” said José Sócrates, adding that he did not want to speak “under pressure” nor allow “the court to be so violent.”
With José Sócrates’ statements temporarily concluded, the court will hear on Thursday, in the eleventh session of this trial, Diogo Gaspar Ferreira, former executive director of the luxury development Vale de Lobo, who is charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with two crimes: active corruption and money laundering.
José Sócrates decided today to interrupt his statements in court as part of the Operação Marquês trial, requested a date from the judge to resume speaking, and denied involvement in the TGV tender.
Lusa | 12:58 – 10/09/2025
This afternoon, José Sócrates accused the Public Prosecutor’s Office of not presenting evidence and of posing questions that the former prime minister is not aware of. “That account is not mine; I have nothing to do with it. And what the Public Prosecutor’s Office says exceeds the treatment there should be between the Public Prosecutor’s Office and a procedural subject,” said José Sócrates when questioned by prosecutor Rómulo Mateus about 4.5 million euros allegedly transferred to a Swiss account controlled by Carlos Santos Silva.
At the end of the tenth session of this trial, lawyer Francisco Proença de Carvalho, representing the former president of Banco Espírito Santo, Ricardo Salgado, spoke, as his client was mentioned by José Sócrates regarding the rejection of the sale of PT’s stake in Vivo. “Ricardo Salgado’s right to the defense’s counter-narration is hindered,” explained Proença de Carvalho, given his client’s medical condition – he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
The former prime minister is one of the 21 defendants in Operação Marquês, mostly facing charges of corruption and money laundering.
The 21 defendants have generally denied the commission of the 117 economic-financial crimes they are collectively accused of.
The trial began on July 3 at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon.
