Stories coming out of Évora jail indicate that prison guards are getting increasingly fed-up with the preferential treatment extended to former Socialist PM José Sócrates.
Not only has the jailed ex-politician won the benefit of a warm winter scarf (see https://www.portugalresident.com/s%C3%B3crates-appeals-for-special-dispensation-to-wear-benfica-scarf) now he has been sneaked-in a pair of high winter boots.
According to reports in the press, the guards “didn’t see the boots arriving” and are “irritated” that rules are being relaxed in Sócrates’ favour.
Scarves for instance are habitual no-no’s in jail as inmates have been known to use them to hang themselves.
Sócrates has assured his keepers that he is not a suicide risk – but the arrival of the boots has added grist to the guards’ irritation.
Other inmates are not afforded such luxuries, they claim.
Thus the men are reported to have taken up the noisy practice of running their batons along the bars of prison cells in Sócrates’ wing.
An inmate since November 25 suspected of qualified tax fraud and money-laundering on a vast scale, the man who used to be known in political circles as the “wild beast” is reported to have called the activity “inhuman”.
The guards are understood to have informed him that it is actually one of their rules, as they need to be aware of any bars that may be being sawn through. The practice “detects anomalies”, president of the prison guards syndicate Jorge Alves explained.
Sócrates’ complaints centred more on the fact that the noise was deafening.
Meantime, the former leader of the Socialist party is awaiting the outcome of his appeal against preventive custody – albeit now in additional physical if not mental comfort.
By NATASHA DONN natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
