José Sócrates to face no charges over Freeport

Despite pressure from prosecutors, the judiciary has declared that evidence heard at the Freeport trial, held at the Court of Montijo, had not raises sufficient compelling evidence to open a case to examine the role of former prime minister, José Sócrates.

Evidence heard under oath has been declared ‘hearsay’ and is not admissible under the Penal Code. The action has been archived and 'Teflon man' José Sócrates will not face any charges despite a trail of money leading to his then ministry.

The judges in the original trial believed that strong evidence was given that payments were made to officials at  the Ministry of the Environment. This is now deemed inadmissible whereas before it was worthy of strident comment.

The former prime minister could have been heard as a defendant, but this now will not happen. José Sócrates was the environment minister when the Freeport shopping centre received planning permission at the site in Alcochete.

Despite judges at the time hearing evidence of cash payments totalling several millions of euros, all the players in this bent and sordid drama have now walked free.

Those that have dismissed Transparency International's recent report on Portugal's corruption as illusory, may have a hard time explaining where the money went in the Freeport scandal.  

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See also

http://algarvedailynews.com/news/7084-freeport-trial-smith-and-pedro-acquitted-socrates-to-be-investigated

http://algarvedailynews.com/news/7039-freeport-magistrates-call-for-charles-smiths-acquittal

Transparency International report on corruption: CLICK HERE

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