This Friday, Amadeu Guerra said he was not sorry for the statements, considering that they were misunderstood and explained that many years ago the prosecutor has always been accused that the facts of the investigation were a scam, that the accusation was poorly built and without facts.
The Attorney General of the Republic said on Friday that his statements were misunderstood, that he never said that José Sócrates had to prove his innocence, but that the trial is the proper place for proof of innocence.
“I did not say that engineer José Sócrates had to prove whatever, nor had to prove his innocence, I did not mention this, said there would be an opportunity in trial to do the proof of innocence. That only. To prove the innocence, he will do, if he wants. If the facts that the prosecutor invokes do not prove, no longer needed to the newspaper A week.
The Attorney General of the Republic spoke this Friday to journalists at the Court of Almada, as part of a work visit to the District of Lisbon.
José Sócrates criticized Amadeu War’s statements to the observer when he said he should “give Socrates opportunity to prove their innocence”having presented a Request for refusal of the Attorney General. For former Prime Minister, Amadeu Guerra puts the burden of proof on the citizen, who has to prove his innocence rather than the state proving guilt.
Amadeu Guerra says he is not sorry for the statements
This Friday, Amadeu Guerra said he was not sorry for the statements, whereas they were misunderstood And he explained that for many years that the prosecutor has always been accused that the facts of the investigation were a scam, that the accusation was poorly built and without facts.
“Given the previous statements about the absence of facts, about the lack of reasons to make accusations, (…) I have the perception that [Sócrates] It would prove in judgment that everything was a scam. Therefore, what I said was that this is the proper time to discuss this issue, in judgment, “he said.
Amadeu Guerra also said that, of what he realized on Thursday in the initial allegations made by José Sócrates’s lawyer, the expression used was: “We will demonstrate the innocence of José Sócrates. “
“Therefore, I was not just mentioning this. And what I heard yesterday is what is underlying my intervention. That is, it is in judgment that these situations are made,” he said.
“Do not blame the prosecutor” for delays in the process
On the delays in the Operation Marquis process, whose trial now began 11 years after the arrest of former Prime Minister José Sócrates and involves 20 more defendants, The Attorney General said he cannot be assigned to blame for the prosecutor.
“Do not blame the Public Prosecution Service, because the prosecutor, from 2017, had the process ready to go to trial,” said Amadeu Guerra in statements to journalists at the Judicial Court of Almada where he was for meetings with prosecutors, in the context of visits he has been conducted to several counties.
The PGR, which said the trial is to end as soon as possible, considered it to be unjust to be assigned to blame the prosecutor for delays in the process.
“The process was opened in 2013, in 2014 we did the search steps a year later. You must have few processes with this size in which the process begins at a certain date and a year later we are already doing steps,” said Amadeu Guerra adding that the accusation was made in three years having been completed in October 2017.
Amadeu Guerra said he also pressured many prosecutors, which deserved criticism to him, so that the accusation was ready.
“He said clearly that if there were no elements, if the prosecution was not ready until the end of the judicial holidays, no one went on vacation. I was very criticized by them, and rightly, as evident,” he said, saying that the prosecutor has nothing to do with the delay in the process having completed “in time and hours” a megaulture and in which they guaranteed worked hard
Ratted the judgment of Operation Marquis
Eleven years after the arrest of José Sócrates at Lisbon airport, the what The former prime minister and 20 defendants bring to court and has more than 650 witnesses.
117 crimes are at stake, including corruption, laundering of capital and tax fraud, by which the 21 defendants will be judged in this process.
For now, 53 sessions are scheduled to extend until the end of this yearand in the future should be marked the following and, during this trial will be heard 225 witnesses called by the Public Prosecution Service and about 20 calls by the defense of each of the 21 defendants.
