Rejects “multiple forces” trying to smear Justice system
Portugal’s Attorney General Lucília Gago has struck back today at the “multiple forces” attacking the credibility of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, agreeing that there needs to be constructive debate – but not now (during an election campaign), no matter how many politicians demand her resignation/ call for scrutiny and generally try to wrestle control of the status quo .
Now – with multiple cases in the public eye, not least two that brought down governments (Operation Influencer, that toppled PS Socialists on the mainland, and the corruption probe in Madeira that crippled the PSD regional administration) – is “not the time to discuss Justice reforms”, but “later on, with calm, in-depth study of the issues and with a constructive spirit, which is what is supposed to exist and which is sometimes lacking, then yes, it makes perfect sense”, she said.
News anchors have remarked on the fact that the Attorney General chose to speak out from the Azores. She travelled there yesterday for the 13th Congress of the SMMP (Public Prosecutors’ Union).
But at least Lucília Gago has officially ‘acknowledged’ the myriad personal attacks, telling her audience that they come from “different origins, different backgrounds”.
Politicians from left to right have been ‘demanding’ her removal (she stresses that when her moment to retire comes, she will seize it) – the latest critic being AD leader Luís Montenegro.
Of Mr Montenegro’s “negative assessment” of her performance as the head of the Public Prosecutions service, she said: ““Frankly, I don’t value what may be said about me in particular. What I do value is the attitude that a future prime minister and a future minister of justice will have towards issues of justice and the willingness they will show to choose the best solutions in a considered and sustained way.”
In the meantime, it is up to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ensure compliance with the law and to remain immune to “any pressure or interference, direct or indirect”, she said.
Lucília Gago made several allusions to the criticisms directed at Operation Influencer and the operation in Madeira, which, in her words, “aim to discredit the investigations and those who run them”.
Right at the start of her speech, the Attorney General referred to the “unusual fertility of significant recent events – generating a whirlwind of comments, questions and interrogations – confusing some, dazing others, accentuating the noise and fostering hopelessness.
“We are confronted and buffeted by the novel questioning of the adequacy of the means employed and the timings of the proceedings,” she said, adding that the intention was to blame the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor’s Office as “the main culprits in the darkest pages of judicial reality“.
Her speech – heard by 500 public prosecutors gathered in Ponta Delgada – received a standing ovation.
Source material: LUSA/ RTP/
