Former judge Rui Rangel said this Wednesday, October 29, that he does not understand how long the Operation Lex process is taking and stated that there is no delay in the progress of the case that can be attributed to him.
“If this process is nine years old, the delay was never due to me. I didn’t even ask for openings of investigation”, said Rui Rangel as he left the Supreme Court of Justice, where the first trial session of Operation Lex took place.
Rui Rangel reiterated his intention to speak during the trial, even though he decided to do so “according to the strategy” defined by the defense, at a time when he deems it appropriate. He stressed that he never made statements in this process and that these “must be made to those who are listening”.
The afternoon session should have been dedicated to listening to former judge Luís Vaz das Neves, but a delay in resuming work, which happened after 3 pm, when it was scheduled for 2:30 pm, led Vaz das Neves’ defense to request that the statements take place in the next session, continuously. The objective was to prevent them from being interrupted this Wednesday by the closure of work due to the working hours of judicial employees.
“I believe it makes perfect sense, even for the court to understand, therefore the chain of what are his statements in the first place and then the interrogation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the counter-instances that the Public Prosecutor’s Office will make and the eventual assistants or other defendants”, explained lawyer Miguel Matias.
Vaz das Neves was the only defendant to express his intention to make an initial statement, a decision taken together with the defense, explained Miguel Matias, stating that the decision falls within what “has been Vaz das Neves’ stance” of “manifesting innocence”.
“We understand that you should do it because you don’t have to wait for witnesses to be interviewed or anything else, we understand that it would be the right time”, said Miguel Matias.
With the decision to postpone the hearing of Vaz das Neves’ statements until Tuesday morning, when the next session takes place, today’s afternoon only served to schedule the next two days of work, and on Tuesday, with the trial continuing at the Military Court of Lisbon, in Campo de Santa Clara, the assistant in the case João Vieira Pinto, a former football player, and the judge advisor António Martins will be heard.
The Operation Lex trial brings 16 defendants to court, including former judges Rui Rangel and Vaz das Neves, and the former president of Benfica, Luís Filipe Vieira.
Only 16 of the 17 defendants reached trial, as businessman Ruy Carrera Moura, accused in the process of a crime of active corruption for an illicit act, died in the meantime.
The MP’s accusation was made known in September 2020 and focuses on the activity carried out by former judges Rui Rangel, Fátima Galante and Luís Vaz das Neves – who, according to the accusation, used their functions in the Lisbon Relation to obtain undue advantages, for themselves or for third parties, which they concealed.
According to a note from the Attorney General’s Office, in order to guarantee the payment of the benefits obtained by the accused, in an amount exceeding 1.5 million euros, the seizure of assets was requested at the time.
While the investigation was taking place, the Superior Council of the Judiciary decided to expel Rui Rangel from the judiciary and place Fátima Galante in compulsory retirement. Vaz das Neves retired in 2016 and was replaced by Orlando Nascimento, who has also left his position.
Rui Rangel is accused of passive corruption for an illegal act, abuse of power, improper receipt of an advantage, usurpation of functions, tax fraud and document forgery and Fátima Galante of passive corruption for an illegal act, abuse of power, tax fraud and money laundering.
Vaz das Neves is responsible for passive corruption for an illegal act and abuse of power, while Luis Filipe Vieira, former president of Benfica, is accused of improperly receiving an advantage.
Football businessman José Veiga, court official Octávio Correia, lawyer José Santos Martins and his son Bernardo Santos Martins, are some of the other defendants, along with Bruna do Amaral, Rui Rangel’s ex-girlfriend.
The Operation Lex case became known on January 30, 2018, when five people were arrested and more than 30 searches were carried out.
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