Rodrigo Antunes / LUSA
José Sócrates leaving the Justice Campus
The lawyer renounced Sócrates’ defense claiming that the 10-day period given by the court to prepare is not enough.
The lawyer who had been appointed about two weeks ago by José Sócrates resigned today, at a trial hearing, from defending the former prime minister in the Operation Marquês case.
Sara Leitão Moreira justified the decision with the fact that not been given enough time by the court to prepare the defense of the head of Government between 2005 and 2011.
“There is no mental reserve or agenda in my mind. However, I wonder what would remain in the records if I stayed. For me, almost nothing. I have to be faithful to my conscience as a lawyer. I’m a lawyer, I’m not an extra. Unfortunately, they won’t let me, despite having acted with the utmost honesty”, explained the lawyer, as quoted by .
Following the resignation, the court ordered the appointment of an official lawyer for the trial to continue, with today’s session being interrupted for a few minutes so that it could be called.
It is recalled that José Sócrates had presented a request to the court stating that his new lawyer would ask for an extended deadline to prepare the defense, citing the size and complexity of the process.
In the request, Sócrates maintained that, “as is legitimate and justified given the size of the process”, the lawyer I would ask for a period of 5 months to analyze the files. The former governor also cited the European Convention on Human Rights to emphasize that he must have, “at a minimum”, adequate time to prepare his defense.
The choice of Sara Leitão Moreira came after the resignation of the previous lawyer, José Preto, who abandoned the case following judge Susana Seca’s decision not to suspend the trial to allow her full recovery from pneumonia. José Preto had requested 5 and a half months to consult the process, but the court gave him just 10 days.
