Judges have decided that the former Prime Minister José Sócrates is unlikely to be able to disrupt the inquiry into his financial affairs and that he now should be allowed to live at his ex-wife’s house in Rua Abade Faria, Lisbon.
Judge Carlos Alexandre thinks that Sócrates still may be inclined to skip the country and therefore has ordered that there be a police guard at the given address at all times but Sócrates does not need to be fitted with an electronic tag.
Sócrates’ ordeal in Évora jail therefore is at an end and he arrived in Lisbon at 21:15, to be met by his lawyer João Araújo. Sócrates was smiling but decided not to speak to the crowd of reporters that mysteriously had appeared.
The former PM will remain under house arrest and is forbidden from contact with the other defendants in Operation Marquês, set up to investigate corruption, tax fraud and money laundering.
Arrested on 21 November 2014 at Lisbon airport, José Sócrates was the only one of the nine arrested who remained in custody.
The state prosecutor issued a statement that "the Criminal Centre Court ruled that the accused is subject to the obligation to remain at home (without being subject to electronic surveillance), as well as being prohibited from contact with other defendants in the case."
"The prosecutor's office changed the coercive measure on the grounds that, given the evidence gathered since the last review, the evidence is enhanced and consolidated which reduces the danger of it being meddled with or destroyed. Since the last review about ten people were interviews and 30 further searches made."
Socrates is being investigated for qualified tax fraud, money laundering and accepting bribes and it appears now that the evidence against him and those also arrested is firm enough now to warrant his release without fear he will somehow 'disrupt' inquiries or destroy evidence.
He had been allowed home with an electronic tag back in June but decided that he did not want to wear a tag so elected to stay in jail, where he has been until this evening, Saturday 4th September 2015, 41 weeks after his arrest.
UPDATE
On Saturday morning, Sócrates’ lawyers called a press conference to impress on the assembled hacks the innocence of their client, that the charges against him are a "pathetic invention" and "ridiculous" and that as no evidence has been presented by the prosecutor, there is no reason to suspect the former prime minister of anything at all, so blameless is he.
"This process is senseless, it is wrong. There are no facts, there is no evidence and in the past nine months there has been no charge," said lawyer João Araújo who with his colleague Pedro Delille said that even though Socrates has been allowed home and is under house arrest, they will appeal against this enforcement measure.
When the presecution pesents its detailed case into the corrupt world of Portuguese politics and Sócrates' role therein, Araújo will have something solid to work with. Until then, it's all bluster and huff.
