Now independent, MP Miguel Arruda claims he is victim of cabal
The unedifying story of a Portuguese Member of Parliament captured on CCTV images apparently taking other people’s luggage from airport carousels, and later found selling items of clothing over the ‘Vinted’ second-hand clothing site, is rapidly developing into a true Portuguese ‘telenovela’ (soap opera).
This morning, parliamentary business was halted by the question of where former CHEGA MP Miguel Arruda would actually sit now that he has renounced his party and turned independent.
CHEGA’s members were clearly uncomfortable with him sitting between them and PSD social democrats. Front bench leader Paulo Pinto stressed the conversations with Arruda since this scandal came to light had not ended ‘pacifically’ – essentially because Arruda has not been seen to do the ‘noble thing’ – which is to abdicate parliament and renounce his parliamentary immunity.
By switching to being an ‘independent MP’, Arruda has held on to all the perks of his position – and the right to thousands of euros (Correio da Manhã suggests the figure is more than €60,000) in parliamentary expenses.
All this while the ‘evidence’ of his suspected crimes are being aired liberally throughout the country’s media outlets.
SIC last night, for example, suggested that 17 suitcases had been found by investigators searching Miguel Arruda’s homes earlier this week.
SIC also attested to Arruda being regularly seen in parliament with a large suitcase.
The MP’s penchant for suitcases appears to verge towards a form of fetish – and this is certainly one of the reasons CHEGA is so keen for the situation to end, not keep amplifying.
Leader writers today are suggesting that the story of the “kleptomaniac MP” says “a lot about populist politicians” who rail about criminals and “in the end, are no better themselves”.
“The case of MP Arruda is almost an allegory about CHEGA”, muses Armando Esteves-Pereira in Correio da Manhã. “The parlamentarian caught on video cameras stealing suitcases is the same who in an election campaign, standing outside a prison in the Azores, defended the extension of the structure to take in thieves and criminals who were on the loose”.
Today, it transpires that Arruda is going to file a criminal complaint against several organisations for violating the secrecy of Justice rule (a rule that is violated on a regular basis).
Speaking to Observador online, Arruda’s lawyer has confirmed the lawsuit will be filed next week, “against various entities”, without identifying any of them.
Arruda meantime, continues to protest his innocence, suggesting this is all about a ‘cabal with political connotations’, directed at him because he is “attacking certain interests that are installed in this country”.
He has admitted to once having taken a suitcase that wasn’t his, says SIC – but the incident was described as a “lapse”, and no clarification was given on why he did not return the suitcase once he had identified the ‘lapse’.
Regarding the damning video camera surveillance images – which show him approaching an airport carousel, taking two suitcases from the rolling carpet (one of which was his) and then entering airport toilets, and emerging later with just his own large suitcase – Arruda claims they “could have been manipulated (…) In the face of new technologies, there may even be images of artificial intelligence showing this”, he told TVI yesterday.
A similar oblique response met questions about the Vinted account, with the username ‘miguelarruda84’ (Miguel Arruda’s name and date of birth).
The MP did not confirm the account was his, suggesting it could have been one set up by his wife. Later in the same interview, however, he remembered that he had created an account “to sell some things”, but he doesn’t remember if he actually sold anything…
According to RTP, the email address used to register the account was the same email that Arruda provided to CHEGA, while the profile photo was of a site in the same village in the Azores where he lives.
In spite of the fact that Arruda claims the Vinted account has not been deleted, Correio da Manhã suggests it was, yesterday afternoon.
And so it goes on. The central issue being that while Miguel Arruda remains an MP, he enjoys parliamentary privilege – and therefore cannot be officially questioned by investigators.
CM stresses that a police source has said that efforts are underway now to “obtain data that will allow the full identification of ‘miguelarruda84’.
Can this story get any worse? CM adds in a small side box today that Arruda “has close connections with the neo-Nazi group 1143”…
For now, he has been constituted an ‘arguido’ (official suspect) on suspicions of qualified theft, which carries a jail term of up to five years, or a fine of up to 600 days.
SIC adds that should a court request that Arruda’s parliamentary immunity is waived, the decision to do so could suddenly be ‘out of his hands’ and left to parliament to decide.
UPDATE: Miguel Arruda has taken psychological leave. He has returned to the Azores – apparently without any suitcases.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
