MPs past and present concerned over “continued deterioration in opacity in justice”
The board of the Association of Former Members of the Portuguese Parliament (AEDAR) believes that there is a continued deterioration in the “opacity” of judicial proceedings and argues that the Attorney General must provide clarifications.
PAN, a party with only one MP, has already lodged a request for the Attorney General to be heard in parliament on the subject of ‘wiretapped conversations’ between António Costa and a former minister that have been leaked to the press – when by all accounts they should not have even existed (the conversations were deemed unnecessary for the purposes of the Operation Influencer inquiry, therefore, they should have been destroyed…)
But they weren’t – and hence one of the latest political furores.
AEDAR has come up with a statement today, saying: “This is a public appeal to the president of the Assembly of the Republic (José Pedro Aguiar-Branco), to the leadership of parliamentary groups, to the government and to the President of the Republic himself, who is responsible for guaranteeing the regular functioning of democratic institutions, so that everyone can contribute to restoring the indispensable confidence in the functioning of the justice system.”
For the association, chaired by former minister and Socialist MP Jorge Lacão, Attorney General Lucília Gago must provide a “full justification for the failure to issue the directive required to regulate internal rules of the regime of hierarchical dependence and responsibility of magistrates of the Public Prosecutor’s Office“.
Lusa adds that AEDER wants to understand the legal directive governing wiretaps, as well as safeguards for the protection of citizens’ fundamental rights (in this and so many other cases, MPs’ fundamental rights).
AEDER maintains that “Portuguese society has been perplexed and shocked to realise that the justice system, as a result of successive procedures without evidence of coherence or adequate justification, has been contributing to the loss of citizens’ confidence in the proper application of justice”.
The association criticises what it calls “the immoderate and trivialised use of telephone tapping” as well as “search operations carried out under the spotlight of media spectacle, and detentions for periods far beyond what is constitutionally provided for”. (This referring directly to recent police probes involving PS Socialists – Operation Influencer – and PSD Madeira political figures and businessmen).
AEDER refers to “recurrent violations of judicial secrecy with undeniable consequences for the normality of public life and the protection of personality rights”.
All these situations “constitute manifest examples of an abusive practice that cannot leave indifferent all those who, over the years, have fought for the realisation of a Rule of Law worthy of the name,” they add.
AEDER’s statement also backs the content of the recent manifesto presented by various political and public figures “For a reform of Justice in defence of the democratic rule of law”.
Reacting to all the brouhaha, André Ventura, leader of right wing party CHEGA, has referred to what he sees as the “political persecution of organs of Justice”.
Ventura insists he sees nothing wrong in the Attorney General being called to answer questions in parliament, “but why should judicial and police institutions only be called to parliament when politicians are involved?”
“They (referring to parties of the left) want to make us believe that the country has been transformed into a new PIDE (secret police from the times of the dictatorship), but CHEGA won’t go along” with it, he said in a press conference today. “Never in any other case in which wiretapping has been revealed has there been such indignation as with António Costa. This shows that the country is still hostage to Socialism, to the direction and command of António Costa.”
On the basis that the wiretaps could prejudice the government’s position in a hugely expensive claim for compensation from the former CEO of TAP, Christine Ourmiêres-Widener, Ventura did make a point: “There isn’t a single journalist with the courage to ask why the country is facing a redundancy process worth millions of euros, because (António Costa) forced her to resign?”
As for Lucília Gago, she told 13th Congress of the SMMP (Public Prosecutors’ Union) earlier this year that “multiple forces” from “different origins and backgrounds” were trying to discredit her department’s investigations, and those who run them. ND
Source: LUSA
