Sócrates defence team is busying itself defending the honour of their star client by taking on selected of the nation’s media titles.
After this week’s successful injunction taken out against the publishers of Correio da Manhã, Sócrates’ lawyers are preparing to sue the Sol weekly newspaper for defamation.
Many foolishly assumed that the lawyers’ main task would be to analyse the Operation Marquês files, released after a titanic legal tussle, and start to prepare a robust defence for the charges contained therein but no, much time and effort is being expended in court actions against media titles and their journalists that have been printing stories that show the recently released former prime minister in a poor light.
The lawyers have focused on journalists Carlos Diogo Santos and Felicia Cabrita of Sol and have claimed they wrote 'wanton lies' when reporting on the Operation Marquês case in which José Sócrates is suspected of corruption.
Lawyers João Araújo and Pedro Delille said that various headlines related to the case and which expressed the opinions of prosecutors and investigators, gravely offended Sócrates’ ‘honour and esteem’ as facts were printed that covered his private and family life.
Sol has been persistent in its coverage of the case and several headlines about Operation Marques have been cited by the lawyers as defamatory.
In a statement, the team of lawyers said today that so-called "solid evidence justifying the spectacular arrest on arrival in Lisbon and the eleven months of probation are merely speculative opinions, fanciful and distort the truth of the facts."
João Araújo and Pedro Delille, state that ensure that the millions of euros being spoken of do not belong to José Sócrates, Vale do Lobo’s directors did not reap any benefit from Sócrates’ term in power and that no contracts with the Lena Group are suspect.
