Central Criminal Instruction Court directed requests to waive parliamentary immunity to three PSD deputies for crimes of corruption and qualified fraud.
i
▲(from left to right) Luís Newton and Carlos Eduardo Reis are two of the three PSD deputies with requests to lift their parliamentary immunity
▲(from left to right) Luís Newton and Carlos Eduardo Reis are two of the three PSD deputies with requests to lift their parliamentary immunity
The Public Ministry (MP) wants to name three PSD deputies as defendants in the case of Operation Tutti Fruti. To this end, it promoted the sending of formal requests to the Central Court of Criminal Instruction to the Assembly of the Republic for the waiver of parliamentary immunity of Louis Newton (also president of the Estrela Parish Council, in Lisbon), Carlos Eduardo Reis (also councilor of the Chamber of Barcelos without portfolios) and Margarida Saavedra (former municipal director of Lisbon City Council), CNN Portugal reported this Tuesday and confirmed by Observador.
The letter sent to Parliament is signed by the investigating judge Jorge de Melo (the same one from the so-called Madeira case) and informs that the MP wants to hear Luís Newton as a defendant for the alleged commission of two crimes of passive corruption and one of malfeasance . At issue are alleged facts related to the exercise of functions as president of the Estrela Parish Council.
How PSD chiefs are being investigated in Operation Tutti Frutti
PUB • CONTINUE READING BELOW
Carlos Eduardo Reis must be accused as a businessman who provided services to several parish councils in Lisbon, and is considered a suspect in the alleged commission of two crimes of active corruption, one of influence peddling and one of malfeasance.
Margarida Saavedra, for her part, is seen as a suspect in the alleged commission of a crime of qualified fraud.
It should be remembered that Luís Newton had already requested his constitution as a defendant on three different occasions. Lawyer Paulo Saragoça da Matta addressed two requests to prosecutor Andreia Marques, holder of the files at DIAP in Lisbon, and one to the criminal investigation judge, but all were rejected. An appeal by the defense is pending in the Lisbon Court on this matter.
Judicial Police must complete investigation by judicial vacation
The efforts to hear the three PSD deputies indicate that the investigation by the Judiciary Police (PJ), the body that assists the Lisbon DIAP in investigating this case, is in the final stretch.
Since the beginning of the year, the PJ has accelerated the pace of interviewing witnesses and interrogating defendants. From what the Observer found, the PJ named several suspects, the less relevant and well-known ones we published, as defendants in February and should continue to call more suspects in the coming weeks.
The PJ is already writing the final investigation report and should deliver it to prosecutor Andreia Marques before the end of the judicial vacation. A final order closing the investigation is expected or in the last day