Former CHEGA MP inches closer to judicial grilling
Former CHEGA MP, now sitting as an independent, Miguel Arruda, has found himself closer to the judicial grilling that must follow his constitution as an official suspect in the strangest case facing a member of parliament for many years.
Arruda, 40, is suspected of stealing random passengers’ suitcases from airport carousels. He is also suspected of having then sold some of the contents of those suitcases online. Multiple reports suggest authorities have ample evidence after cross referencing passengers’ descriptions of items within their lost luggage with images of what Miguel Arruda later, and allegedly, could be found selling on popular sites for second hand clothing.
Now that the MP’s parliamentary immunity has been officially lifted (by parliament’s Transparency Committee), he will go on to be interviewed by the Central Criminal Investigation Court
The court intends for him to answer for eight crimes of qualified theft – a crime with a criminal sentence of up to five years – which is why, in this situation, the lifting of the deputy’s parliamentary immunity is automatic” writes Lusa.
But still, in the face of all this unedifying publicity, Miguel Arruda still seems to be acting as if he truly represents the people of the Azores. He has asked, for example, to have a place on three parliamentary committees: Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees; Budget and Finance; and Environment and Energy.
“Miguel Arruda’s choice to be part of the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees caused “perplexity” and “discomfort” among some MPs contacted by Lusa who are part of this committee, since the Azorean is accused of stealing suitcases”, says the state news agency.
But the fact that Miguel Arruda continues in parliament at all is what is causing perplexity on a more lay basis: voters are flabbergasted that a situation like this has not resulted in the MP being stripped of his office, or at least ‘suspended from parliament’ while investigations/ a possible trial have concluded.
