Aníbal Pinto, accused in the Football Leaks case for the crime of extortion in the attempted form, said this Tuesday to have the “clean conscience as a lawyer ”, reaffirming that their presence in the process serves as “’glue’ to keep Rui Pinto”.
I think I am the ‘glue’ in this process, which was necessary to keep Rui Pinto. Here I am fulfilling my obligation as a citizen, but always with the honor and dignity of knowing and having a clear conscience as a lawyer and as a lawyer. Lawyers have to die with clients and they have to comply with the law ”, he stated, at the entrance to the second session of the trial, at the Campus da Justiça, in Lisbon.
In the first session, Aníbal Pinto spoke before the panel of judges, chaired by Margarida Alves, during the morning and the entire afternoon session, being heard again today.
“It is easy to say what is true. The court will finally decide and clarify everything, whether there are crimes, if there are no crimes. For me, I am absolutely calm ”, he guaranteed, saying that it is“ absolutely evident ”that it is a labor contract to hire Rui Pinto, instead of an extortion attempt, as the accusation alleges.
Explaining that there were “many red lights” that something was not lawful, Aníbal Pinto highlighted “an absolutely green signal, which was the existence of a colleague and a lawyer”.
Lawyers have to trust lawyers, they have to be loyal to everyone. There are people who have to understand that there are lawyers who are priceless, who never denounce clients, who never violate their conduct and ethics ”, he stressed.
Aníbal Pinto says that the idea of creating ‘offshore’ came from Rui Pinto
The lawyer Aníbal Pinto revealed today, in court, that it was Rui Pinto, creator of the platform, who had the idea of creating an ‘offshore’, in the negotiations for a contract with the investment fund Doyen.
In the second session of the trial, which has already been concluded at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, the lawyer, who is responsible for a crime of attempted extortion against Doyen, continued to be questioned by the Public Prosecutor (MP), Marta Viegas, and was confronted by the investment fund’s legal representative, Sofia Branco Ribeiro, about who had the idea of creating an offshore company for the IT services contract.
“It was Rui Pinto”, confirmed Aníbal Pinto, who was negotiating for his then client anonymously, adding that “Would reveal [a identidade de Rui Pinto] when it was to sign the contract ”.
The president of the panel of judges, Margarida Alves, then asked the defendant whether it was normal for a company to want to hire someone he did not know, to which Aníbal Pinto replied: “Lawyers do not have to find out whether it is normal or not. You have to know if it’s legal or not ”.
Rui Pinto, 31, will answer for a total of 90 crimes: 68 of undue access, 14 of violation of correspondence and six of illegitimate access, targeting entities such as Sporting, Doyen, the PLMJ law firm, the Portuguese Federation of Football and the Attorney General’s Office, 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 Aníbal Pinto.
The creator of Football Leaks has been free since August 7, “due to his collaboration” with the Judiciary Police and “critical sense”, but is, for security reasons, inserted in the witness protection program, in a location not revealed and under police protection.
.
