The mayor of Vila Franca do Campo, in the Azores, said today that he has a “clear conscience” and is waiting for “justice to be done” in the case in which he will be tried for malfeasance and abuse of power.
“My conscience is clear. I hope justice is done,” Ricardo Rodrigues (PS) told Lusa news agency.
The mayor will be tried for the crimes of malfeasance and abuse of power over the concession of a restaurant, after the Lisbon Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the Ponta Delgada criminal investigation judge, who had decided not to indict the socialist for those crimes.
Ricardo Rodrigues said he didn’t want to comment on the Lisbon Court of Appeal’s decision, but recalled the principle of the presumption of innocence.
“Until the judgment is final, you are presumed innocent. Let’s see how the trial goes,” he added.
According to the information available on the website of the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Azores, the Lisbon Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the Ponta Delgada criminal investigating judge, bringing the mayor of Vila Franca to trial.
In addition to Ricardo Rodrigues, two other defendants will also be tried, one of whom is a councillor for Vila Franca do Campo, on the island of São Miguel.
The decision comes after the Lisbon Court of Appeal upheld the appeal filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP).
The judgment of the Lisbon Court of Appeal dates from May 8, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
On August 3, 2022, the Public Prosecutor’s Office charged the mayor of Vila Franca do Campo and local councillor Carlos Pimentel with the crimes of malfeasance and abuse of power.
According to an order to which the Lusa news agency had access, the case concerns the concession of the operation of a restaurant to an association made up of the mayor’s brother, Luís Rodrigues, and the husband of former socialist councillor Nélia Guimarães.
The case dates back to 2018, when the Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation into the concession of a restaurant space built by the Vila Franca do Campo Town Hall, in São Miguel, to the Friends of Vila Franca do Campo Association.
According to the order, between the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, the four parties involved “outlined a plan” for the concession of the Rotunda dos Frades restaurant to be “assured” to Luís Rodrigues.
On November 7, 2022, Ricardo Rodrigues requested the opening of the investigation in the case in which he is accused of the crimes of malfeasance and abuse of power, justifying it with the “lack of grounds for the accusation”.
The Ponta Delgada Investigative Court decided not to indict the three defendants on October 9, 2023, a decision that has now been overturned by the Lisbon Court of Appeal.
