Contradictions of PJ inspectors lead judges to question Football Leaks evidence

The contradictions between the statements of the inspectors of the Judicial Police (PJ) Hugo Monteiro and Aida Freitas this Tuesday led the collective of judges of the trial of the Football Leaks case to question the reliability of the evidence.

At stake are the statements of the two witnesses at the 31st session of the trial, at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, regarding the meeting between the former CEO of the Doyen investment fund, Nélio Lucas, and his collaborator Pedro Henriques with the defendant Aníbal Pinto in the service area of ​​the A5 motorway, in Oeiras, on October 22, 2015.

During the morning, Hugo Monteiro said that Chief Inspector Rogério Bravo called him for an operation “where a flagrant arrest could occur” if “one object was handed over by one of the targets to the other targets” or if an order was given in this sense, stressing that the objective was “to control the space and ensure the safety of the players” inside the service area’s restoration space.

At the same time, the PJ inspector – who sat with his colleague at one of the tables, while Rogério Bravo and José Amador were outside the space – added that the proximity “allowed him to hear the conversation” and pointed out that “what was discussed were the outlines of a business “, in which Aníbal Pinto presented himself as an intermediary for a business of” about half a million or one million euros “in which” both parties could benefit “. Hugo Monteiro stressed that he had not yet recorded the meeting.

Early in the afternoon, PJ inspector Aida Freitas said that “the objective was to attend a meeting that would happen between certain people and try to hear what was going to happen”, but admitted that she had not “strictly heard” the conversation between Nélio Lucas, Pedro Henriques and Aníbal Pinto, adding that they had not read the External Diligence Report (RDE) that was prepared and in which aspects of the conversation between the intervening parties were mentioned.

“I signed the RDE, but I didn’t read what I signed. I speak of myself, I wasn’t at a natural distance to listen. It was my negligence, I shouldn’t have signed without reading, but I did. Against me I speak and mea culpa, but I don’t I can say that I heard it. The next day, they gave me the car to sign. Who drafted the RDE was José Amador, “he said, claiming” lack of time “and summarizing:” We often sign things without reading “.

The statements surprised the panel of judges, with the president, Margarida Alves, to rebel against the content of Aida Freitas’ testimony.

“This is even more serious: to say that you sign the RDE of a person who prepares and was not in the process. We analyzed the evidence brought to us by the authorities”, he shot, seconded later by assistant judge Ana Paula Conceição: “We make judgments with faith and confidence that what the PJ agents write in the RDE corresponds to the truth. I will not sign a judgment without reading what is there “.

Continued act, he left a notice to the direction of the Judicial Police, since director Luís Neves is still among the list of witnesses to be heard in the coming months: “Since the director of the Judicial Police comes here, it will be something for us to call attention, because, apparently, this is what happens in the institution “.

The PJ inspector also guaranteed that she only read the RDE in 2020 and acknowledged that “if she had read it at the time, she would not have signed it”, in addition to revealing that she transmitted this to inspector José Amador, who coordinated the investigation of the ‘Football Leaks’ process, as well as the chief inspector Rogério Bravo and the coordinator Carlos Cabreiro, but not to the director of the institution.

The trial, which also included the hearing of witness José Luís Cristóvão, computer coordinator of the Attorney General’s Office, continues on Thursday, starting at 9:30 am, with the hearing of witness Bálint Bozo.

Rui Pinto, 32, is responsible for a total of 90 crimes: 68 of undue access, 14 of violation of correspondence, six of illegitimate access, targeting entities such as Sporting, Doyen, PLMJ law firm, the Portuguese Federation of Football (FPF) and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), and also for computer sabotage to Sporting’s SAD and for extortion, in the attempted form. This last crime concerns Doyen and was also what led to the pronunciation of the lawyer Aníbal Pinto.

The creator of Football Leaks has been free since August 7, “due to his collaboration” with the Judicial Police (PJ) and his “critical sense”, but is, for security reasons, inserted in the protection program of witnesses in an undisclosed location and under police protection.