The Burgerfront association asked the Public Prosecution Service on Saturday to summon the Speaker of Parliament to be heard as a witness in the investigation that led to searches at the headquarters of the PSD and the home of former President Rui Rio.
The request is expressed in a letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Republic, Lucília Gago, and signed by the president of the Civic Front, Paulo de Morais, a former PSD militant and former “number two” of Rui Rio in the Chamber of Porto.
According to the Civic Front, Augusto Santos Silva should be given “the opportunity” to “clarify that checks and verifications are carried out by the Assembly of the Republic to ensure the proper use of financial and human resources in support of parliamentary groups and the legality of the practices of the parties in this regard”.
On the basis of the request addressed to the Prosecutor General of the Republic, who heads the higher body of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which directs the investigation, the association cites an “exclusive statement” from the President of the Assembly of the Republic that “seems to give absolute certainty about the facts under judicial investigation”.
According to the Civil Front, Augusto Santos Silva initially claimed that carrying out the searches would be “a crime live” on television, and in a second asserted that “there is no question of any kind of over-funding of political parties in any way”.
On July 12, the PJ mobilized about 100 inspectors and IT and financial experts for a series of 20 house searches, including the home of former PSD president Rui Rio, in Porto, and the party’s national headquarters, in Lisbon, in an investigation conducted by the Lisbon Regional Department for Investigations and Criminal Action (DIAP), on suspicion of crimes of embezzlement and abuse of power.
The searches of Rui Rio’s home and PSD headquarters were reported live by CNN television that day.
It concerns the alleged misuse of funds for the offices of parliamentary groups with staff working for the party outside parliament.
Rui Rio responded with harsh criticism of the Public Prosecution Service, stating that the practice is transversal to all parties.
The PSD’s current president, Luís Montenegro, expressed his belief that the law is being followed and criticized the disproportionate resources.
In the letter, the Civic Front expresses its satisfaction with “the news that the Public Prosecutor’s Office will prepare to expand the ongoing investigation” and suggests that “all parties that have parliamentary groups since 2018, when the latest revision of the Law on the Financing of Political Parties was legislated and entered into force”.
Founded in 2016, the Civic Front claims itself as “an impartial association dedicated to the defense of matters of public interest”.
Source: DN
