Rui Pinto’s lawyer highlighted today the absence of an effective prison sentence in the decision in the trial of the Football Leaks case, which was announced today and resulted in a four-year suspended sentence.
“It is a positive sign for the work that Rui Pinto developed in terms of defending the public interest that there was no actual prison sentence, which was always a possible risk in legal terms. The court understood that it should not do so and I think correctly”, stated Francisco Teixeira da Mota.
Speaking to journalists as he left the court, the lawyer for the main defendant in this case acknowledged his disagreement with some parts of the ruling read by judge-president Margarida Alves, but stressed that he did not expect his client to be acquitted, as he had already recognized having committed illegalities and expressed regret.
“What he expected was that the public service he provided would also be taken into account and I believe that this decision recognizes the existence of a public service. Let’s analyze the decision and see what we’re going to do from here onwards”, stressed the president, leaving the door open to a possible appeal against this decision.
Asked about the impact of the amnesty law approved as part of Pope Francis’ visit to Portugal and which resulted in its application to 79 of the 90 crimes that had been attributed to Rui Pinto, the lawyer regretted what he said was an understanding that was too restrictive to be adopted. pardon sentences in Portugal.
“I always think amnesties are nice, just as I always think the Pope’s arrival is nice. It’s always a positive thing, because I understand that prison sentences are often excessive and we always need great things to do amnesties… In the United States of America, amnesties are carried out in states merely to free up prisons. We have a very repressive logic here”, he summarized.
Francisco Teixeira da Mota avoided elaborating on the collaboration between the creator of Football Leaks and the authorities, despite assuming that it will continue, but targeted the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the second accusation against Rui Pinto, who in July accused him of committing 377 crimes for acts committed at the same time as those at issue in this trial.
“It is a process directly linked to this one, with cases from the same time, and which was artificially separated… And the prosecutor has already announced that she will carry out a third process, because she was not able to end this one. This is what is worrying: there is a logic of defending the interests of the prosecution that leads to the defendant – for the same facts occurring in the same period of time – having three trials separated in time. Let’s contest, study, work, fight… In short, do what we do as lawyers,” she concluded.
Rui Pinto was sentenced today to a single sentence of four years in prison, suspended upon execution. The court found the creator of Football Leaks guilty of the crimes of attempted extortion of the Doyen investment fund, of three crimes of aggravated correspondence tampering with lawyers João Medeiros, Rui Costa Pereira and Inês Almeida Costa and five of illegitimate access to Doyen, Sporting , Portuguese Football Federation, PLMJ law firm and the Attorney General’s Office.
2023-09-11 17:43:48
#Rui #Pintos #lawyer #highlights #positive #sign #absence #effective #arrest
