“The hidden fortune simply does not exist. That is not true.” José Sócrates spoke to journalists upon entering the latest session, held this Wednesday, of the trial regarding Operation Marquês, noting that he has been defending himself against this issue for “ten years.”
“Look, I have been defending myself from this for ten years, I have already said everything I had to say about it,” emphasized the former prime minister.
Sócrates further argued that, in these trial sessions, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) presented no evidence nor “contradicted” the statements made by the ex-government official: “It is not only that the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not present evidence, not an indication, nor a fact… it is that it did not contradict anything I stated. Yesterday, I proved documentarily and with testimonies that none of that existed, all of it is false.”
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is here to support the accusation, so the accusation is absurd”, he stressed.
José Sócrates once again attacked journalists, pointing out that the media, “during these ten years,” “supported things that are completely untrue.”
The former prime minister José Sócrates is the main defendant in this case, which involves 21 people accused of 117 crimes of corruption, money laundering, and tax fraud.
José Sócrates, 67, is charged (accused after instruction) with 22 crimes, including three of corruption, for allegedly receiving money to benefit various dossiers concerning the Lena Group, the Espírito Santo Group (GES) – linked to BES, at the time a shareholder of PT – and the Vale do Lobo development in the Algarve.
The 21 defendants – who collectively face 117 economic-financial crimes – have generally denied any wrongdoing.
The trial began on July 3 at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon and continues today, with more clarification requests from the MP, notably about José Sócrates’ relationship with the Lena Group.
