Sócrates wants corruption case ‘thrown out’; ‘killer nurse’ wants new trial
Two people in and out of the news more than they would like are both now trying their luck with the European Court of Human Rights, after falling foul of Portuguese judicial procedure.
We’re talking about former Socialist prime minister José Sócrates, fending off a corruption trial for the last 14 years; and the young woman dubbed ‘the killer nurse’, sentenced to 23 years in jail for her part in the murder and dismemberment of a young IT technician in the Algarve, in 2020.
One could say neither have anything in common with each other, but that would be to ignore the very unusual nature of the Portuguese legal system.
Mr Sócrates, and his lawyers, claim that the way in which ‘Operation Marquês’ has been handled is abysmal, as does, apparently, Mariana Fonseca and her lawyer António Falé de Carvalho.
In that respect, both complainants to the European Court of Human Rights share the same grievances. The prime difference, however, is that Mariana Fonseca is ‘on the run’, evading a 23-year-sentence, following a trial, an appeal, and failed attempt to overturn that appeal, while José Sócrates is trying to avoid the whole agony of a trial – due to start on Thursday – for various reasons: his lawyers argue that facts have been ‘substantially altered’ by public prosecutors; and any remaining charges that haven’t already expired should have expired…
It is unusual for a complaint to the ECHR to be presented and deliberated with any alacrity, so it is highly possible that Mr Sócrates’ trial will still move forwards.
As for Mariana Fonseca, she is asking (through her lawyer) for the whole case to be reopened, and a new trial held. A trial simply of her actions in the death of Diogo Gonçalves, as her ‘partner’ in the macabre event has since killed herself while serving a 25-year jail sentence in Tires Women’s Prison.
Source material: LUSA/ Correio da Manhã
